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THE STORY OF 
PAPER-MAKING 

AN ACCOUNT OF PAPER-MAKING 
FROM ITS EARLIEST KNOWN RECORD 
DOWN TO THE PRESENT TIME 



ILLUSTRATED 



J. W. BUTLER PAPER COMPANY 
CHICAGO :: :: :: MDCCCCI 






Library of Congress 

Two Copies Rfceivfd 
JAN 21 1901 

Copyright entry 

FIRST COPY 



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Copyrighted 

By J. W. BUTLER PAPER COMPANY 

January, 1901 



THE STORY OF 
PAPER-MAKING 



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THE ABSENCE OF NON-TECHNICAL WORKS UPON 
THIS INTERESTING SUBJECT PROMPTS THE 
AUTHORS TO PRESENT A TREATISE FROM THE 
STANDPOINT OF THE LAYMAN, AND FOR HIS USE 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Articles Supplanted by Paper i 

II. Papyrus and Parchment . . . . 12 

III. Origin and Early History of Paper . . 20 

IV. Early Methods of Paper-Making . . 49 
V. Modern Paper-Making . . . -55 

VI. Water-Marks and Varieties of Paper . 95 

VII. Extent of the Business in the United States 123 



PREFACE 

It is a rare privilege to stand as we do at the 
meeting-point of the centuries, bidding a reluctant 
farewell to the old, while simultaneously we cry 
"All hail!" to the new; first looking back over 
the open book of the past, then straining eager 
eyes for a glimpse of the mysteries that the future 
holds hidden, and which are to be revealed only 
- moment by moment, hour by hour, and day by 
day. 

The nineteenth century, so preeminently one 
of progress in almost every line of mental and 
material activity, has witnessed a marvelous growth 
in the paper industry. It was in the early years 
of the century that crude old methods, with their 
meager machinery, began yielding to the pressure 
of advanced thought, and the development since 
has kept full pace with the flying years. The 
hundred years that have written the modern his- 
tory of paper-making mark also the period during 
which the J. W. Butler Paper Company, or its 
immediate predecessors, have been associated with 

vii 



Vlll 



Preface 



the industry in this country. It has therefore 
seemed to the present representatives of the com- 
pany that the closing year of the century was an 
especially fitting time to put into story form the 
history of the wonderful and valuable product 
evolved almost wholly from seemingly useless 
materials, and they consider it their privilege, as 
well as the fulfillment of a pleasant obligation, to 
present this account to their friends and associates 
in the paper, printing, and auxiliary trades. We 

" Know not what the future hath 
Of marvel and surprise," 

but we feel confident that the incoming century 
will bring changes and improvements as wonderful 
as any the past has wrought, and we hope that it 
may be our good fortune to in some measure be 
instrumental in promoting whatever tends to a 
greater development of the industry with which 
our name has been so long associated. 

J. W. Butler Paper Company. 



CHAPTER I 

ARTICLES EARLY USED FOR PURPOSES NOW 
SUPPLIED BY PAPER 

Full of dignity", significance, and truth is the 
noble conception which finds expression in Tenny- 
son's verse, that we are the heirs of the ages, the 
inheritors of all that has gone before us. 

Through countless cycles of time men have 
been struggling and aspiring; now " mounting up 
with wings, as eagles," now thrown back to earth 
by the crushing weight of defeat, but always rising 
again, undaunted and determined. " The fathers 
have wrought, and we have entered into the re- 
ward of their labors." We have profited by their We are 
striving and aspiration. All the wisdom of the f " e heirs 
past, garnered by patient toil and effort, all the ^ ' * 
wealth of experience gained by generations of 
men through alternating defeat and triumph, 
belongs to us by right of inheritance. It has 
been truly said, " We are what the past has made 
us. The results of the past are ourselves." 

But to what agency do we owe the preserva- 
tion of our inheritance? What conservator has 



i The Story of Paper-Making 

kept our rich estate from being scattered to the 
four winds of heaven? For the wealth that is 
ours to-day we are indebted in large measure to 
man's instinctive desire, manifested in all ages, 
to perpetuate his knowledge and achievements. 
Before the thought of a permanent record had 
begun to take shape in men's minds, oral tradi- 
tion, passing from father to son, and from 
generation to generation, sought to keep alive the 
memory of great achievements and valorous 

Tradition deeds. But tradition proved itself untrustworthy. 

untrust- Reports were often imperfect, misleading, exag- 
^ gerated. Through dull ears, the spoken words 
were received into minds beclouded by ignorance, 
and passed on into the keeping of treacherous 
memories. As the races advanced in learning and 
civilization, they realized that something more 
permanent and accurate was necessary; that with- 
out written records of some sort there could be 
little, if any, progress, since each generation must 
begin practically where the preceding one had 
begun, and pass through the same stages of igno- 
rance and inexperience. 

In this strait, men sought help from Nature, 
and found in the huge rocks and bowlders shaped 
by her mighty forces a means of perpetuating 



Articles Supplanted by Paper 3 

notable events in the histories of nations and the 
lives of individuals. From the setting up of 
stones to commemorate great deeds and solemn 
covenants, it was but a step to the hewing of obe- 
lisks, upon which the early races carved their 
hieroglyphs, rude pictures of birds and men, of 
beasts and plants. As early as four thousand 
years before Christ, these slender shafts of stone 
were reared against the deep blue of the Egyp- 
tian sky, and for ages their shadows passed with 
the sun over the restless, shifting sands of the 
desert. Most of the ancient obelisks have Hiero- 
crumbled to dust beneath Time's unsparing hand, gfypb'c 
but a few fragmentary specimens are still in 
existence, while the British Museum is so fortu- 
nate as to be in possession of one shaft of black 
basalt that is in perfect condition. A part of it 
is covered with writing, a part with bas-reliefs. In 
Egypt these hieroglyphs were employed almost 
exclusively for religious writings — a purpose sug- 
gested by the derivation of the word itself, which 
comes from the Greek, teres, a priest, and glypha, 
a carving. 

As the obelisk had taken the place of the rude 
stones and unwieldy bowlders which marked 
man's first effort to solve an ever-recurring prob- 



4 The Story of Paper-Making 

lem, so it in turn was superseded. The temples 
were sacred places, and especially fitted to become 
the repositories of the records that were to pre- 
serve for coming generations the deeds of kings 
and priests. Accordingly, the pictured stories of 
great events were graven on stone panels in the 
temple walls, or on slabs or tablets of the same 
enduring material. Then came a forward step to 
the easier and cheaper method of writing on soft 
clay. The monarchs, not being obliged to take 
into consideration questions of ease or economy, 
Inscriptions continued to make use of the stone tablets, but 
on stone private individuals usually employed clay, not 
* only for literary and scientific writings, but in their 
business transactions as well. A careful baking, 
either by artificial heat or in the burning rays of 
a tropic sun, rendered the clay tablets very endur- 
ing, so that many which have been dug from 
ancient ruins are now in a remarkable state of 
preservation, bearing letters and figures as clear as 
any of the inscriptions on marble, stone, or metal 
that have come to us from the splendid days 
of Greece or Rome. The people of Assyria 
and Chaldea recorded almost every transaction, 
whether public or private in character, upon tab- 
lets of clay, forming thus a faithful transcript of 



Articles Supplanted by Paper 5 

their daily lives and occupations, which may be 
read to-day by those who hold the key; thus 
it is we bridge the gulf of centuries. From 
the ruins of ancient Nineveh and Babylon, 
records of almost every sort have been unearthed, 
all inscribed on indestructible terra-cotta. There 
are bank-notes and notes of hand, deeds of prop- 
erty, public records, statements of private nego- 
tiations, and memoranda of astronomical observa- 
tions. The life in which they played a part has 
passed into history; the once proud and mighty 
cities lie prostrate, and upon their ruins other 
cities have risen, only to fall as they fell. The 
terra-cotta to which they committed their records 
is all that is left, and the tablets that were fash- 
ioned and inscribed so long ago give to us the 
best histories of Chaldea, Babylonia, and Assyria. Assyrian, 
One of the largest collections of these clay- Babylonian 

writings is now in the British Museum and was a ," a ~ , 
, r ,.- . . . , . , dean records 

taken from a great edifice in Assyria, which was 

probably the residence of Sennacherib. Several 
series of narratives are comprehended in the col- 
lection ; one referring to the language, legends, and 
mythology of the Assyrians ; another recording the 
story of creation, in which "Water-deep" is said 
to be the creator of all forms of life then in ex- 



6 The Story of Paper-Making 

istence, while a third relates to the deluge and the 
story of the Assyrian Moses. But however in- 
teresting these facts may be in themselves, we 
refer to them only by way of illustration, since 
we are dealing not so much with the writing itself 
as with the material on which writing was done. 
Another form of tablet, a somewhat singular 
variation it may seem, was in use among the 
Assyrians at a very early date. This was a prism, 
having either six or eight sides, and made of ex- 
ceedingly fine terra-cotta. Such prisms were fre- 
quently deposited by the Assyrian kings at the 
Inscriptions corners of temples, after having been inscribed 
on prisms w } t | 1 accounts of the notable events in their lives, 
interspersed with numerous invocations. Appar- 
ently the custom was similar to that followed at 
the present day, and the ancient Assyrian tablets 
no doubt served the same purpose as the records, 
newspapers, and documents that are now depos- 
ited in the corner-stones of public or other 
important buildings. The prisms used as tab- 
lets varied in length from a foot and a half to 
three feet, and were covered very closely with 
small writing. That the writers' endeavor was to 
make the most of the space at their disposal is 
suggested by the fact that upon a prism found in 



Articles Supplanted by Paper 7 

the ruins of the ancient city of Ashur the inscrip- 
tions are so crowded that there are thirty lines in 
the space of six inches, or five lines to the inch. 
The prism recites the valiant deeds of Tiglath- 
Pileser I., who reigned from nao to 1100 b. c, 
and undertook campaigns against forty-two other 
nations and their kings. He was a monarch 
whose very name inspired terror among the sur- 
rounding peoples, and his reign was filled with 
stirring events and brilliant achievements. Small 
wonder that it was necessary to crowd the inscrip- Economy of 
tions upon the prism! Rawlinson's "Ancient s P ace 
Monarchies," in an account of the writings 
that have come down to us from the earliest 
days of the world's recorded history, has this to 
say : "The clay tablets are both numerous and 
curious. They are of various sizes, ranging 
from nine inches long by six and a half wide to 
an inch and a half long by an inch wide, or even 
less. Sometimes they are entirely covered by 
writings, while at others they exhibit on a por- 
tion of their surface impressions of seals, mytho- 
logical emblems, and the like. Some thousands 
have been recovered. Many are historical, and 
still more are mythological." Their use in writing 
and drawing was almost universal, and we read 



8 The Story of Paper-Making 

that the prophet Ezekiel, when dwelling with 
"them of the captivity at Telabib, that dwelt by 
the river of Chebar," was commanded, "Take 
thee a tile and lay it before thee, and portray upon 
it the city, even Jerusalem." (Ezekiel iv. I.) 

We get a glimpse of another side of that ancient 
life in a tablet of Nile clay, preserved in the Brit- 
ish Museum, which is one of the earliest specimens 
of writing now in existence. It is a proposal of 
marriage, and was written about 1530 b. c, more 
than thirty-four hundred years ago, by a Pharaoh 
asking the hand of a daughter of the Babylonian 
king. Forty years later, in 1491 b. c, the ten 
commandments were graven on tablets of stone. 

In the early efforts of men to find a means of 
preserving in lasting and convenient form the rec- 
ords of their lives and achievements, some queer 
materials were pressed into service. Plates of 
metal were used, even the precious gold and 
silver being employed for the purpose. Skins of 
animals, tanned to a sort of leather, found favor 
among many peoples, while their bones, and even 
their intestines, were by no means disdained. The 
The works works of Homer, preserved in one of the great 
of Homer Egyptian libraries in the days of the Ptolemies, 
were written in letters of gold on the skins of ser- 



Articles Supplanted by Paper 9 

pents. Ivory was used, also wood and the bark 
of trees. In the early days of Rome, the reports 
of notable events were engraved on wooden tablets, 
which were then exposed to view in public places, 
and citizens of all classes, mingling freely, accord- 
ing to custom, in the great Forum that was the 
center of the city's life, were easily and quickly 
informed of the important happenings of the day. 
The greatest defect in this method was remedied 
when, later on, wax was used to form a surface 
upon the wood, thus admitting of corrections and 
erasures, and making it possible to use the same 
table indefinitely, simply by scraping off the coat- 
ing after it had served its purpose, and supplying 
other coatings as they were needed. But the first 
real advance toward modern writing materials 
came in the use of the leaves of olive, palm, poplar, Old mate- 
and other trees, which were prepared by being cut rta ^ neces ~ 
in strips, soaked in boiling water, and then rubbed ,. j j 
over wood to make them soft and pliable. 

It will be readily understood, however, that 
these crude materials and primitive methods could 
not long keep pace with the steady march of 
progress. The peoples of the earth were increas- 
ing rapidly; they were advancing in the arts and 
sciences, and in the experiences that inspire thought, 



io The Story of Paper- Making 



poetry, and philosophy; they had a heritage of 
knowledge to which they were constantly adding, 
while business transactions, together with other 
deeds worthy of record, had greatly multiplied. 
It was but natural that the materials which had once 
been entirely adequate should now be discarded 
as cumbersome and unfitted to the new conditions. 
The sands in the hour-glass were beginning to run 
golden; time was taking on a value unknown 
before. A deed of land written in clay and put 
away to bake might answer the purpose when real- 
estate transfers were infrequent and attended with 
much ceremony. A clay tablet might serve in a 
marriage proposal by a king who had the power 
to meet and vanquish all rivals, but terra-cotta was 
not suited either for the record of numerous and 
rapid business transactions or for the writing of 
books. The biography of one man, or a single 
treatise in philosophy, would have required a whole 
building, while a library of modern dimensions, 
as to the number of books, would probably have 
left little room in a city for the dwellings of its 
inhabitants. 

What was to take the place of the old and cum- 
bersome materials? Even at a very early date 
men were asking this question, and it was the good 



Articles Supplanted by Paper n 

fortune of Egypt to be able to give answer. Along Discovery 
the marshy banks of the Nile grew a graceful °fP a Py rus 
water-plant, now almost extinct, which was pecul- 
iarly fitted to meet the new demands, as we shall 
see in the succeeding chapter. The discovery of 
its value led to an extensive industry, through 
which the land of the Pharaohs was enabled to 
take high rank in letters and learning, and to 
maintain a position of wealth, dignity, power, and 
influence that otherwise would have been impos- 
sible, even in those remote days when printing was 
still many centuries beyond the thoughts or dreams 
of men. 



CHAPTER II 

PAPYRUS AND PARCHMENT 

The graceful water-plant whose plumy, droop- 
ing heads were swayed by the breezes that ruffled 
the waters of the Nile was one of the most useful 
plants known to Egypt, in whose commerce it 
long held a leading place. As early as 2000 b. c, 
or five hundred years before Moses led the chil- 
dren of Israel out of bondage, there was made from 
its smooth green stems a material called by the 
same name, papyrus, a kind of crude paper, which 
came into universal use, and was so valuable and 
in such great demand that one of the kings pro- 
posed to maintain his army from the sale of this 
The bulrush product alone. The plant was the familiar bulrush 
°f . of the Nile, which grew in forest-like profusion 

along the banks of that mighty stream; and from 
its strong stems was woven the ark in which the 
infant Moses was hidden away "among the flags 
by the river's brink," and so saved from the death 
that menaced him under Pharaoh's cruel decree. 
The Egyptian papyrus was thus the means of pre- 
serving to the world the life of the greatest law- 

12 



Papyrus and Parchment 13 

giver of history. It has been equally instrumental 
in perpetuating the code of laws whose principles 
still serve as foundation for the jurisprudence of 
the leading nations of the earth, nearly four thou- 
sand years after they were first promulgated to his 
own people, the wandering tribes in the desert. 

The papyrus, a tall, smooth-stemmed reed of 
triangular form, grew to a height of ten or fifteen 
feet, and terminated in a tufted plume of leaves 
and flowers. Like so many plants that grow 
beneath the ardent skies of the tropics, it had 
numerous uses. It was noted especially for the Many uses 
soft, cellular substance found in the interior of f or P a Py rm 
its stems, which was a common article of food, 
both cooked and in its natural state. It was 
employed also for the making of mats, sail-cloth, 
cordage, and wearing apparel; while in Abyssinia, 
in whose marshes it is still to be found, boats 
were fashioned by weaving the stems closely to- 
gether and covering them with a sort of resinous 
matter. At a very early day, judging from sculp- 
tures of the fourth dynasty, Egypt made a similar 
use of the papyrus, employing it in the construc- 
tion of light skiffs suited to the navigation of the 
pools and shallows of the Nile. It is believed 
that Isaiah referred to boats of this sort when he 



14 The Story of Paper- Making 

spoke of the "vessels of bulrushes upon the 

waters." But valuable as the papyrus was through 

these manifold uses, its enduring fame was due 

to an entirely different source. It held closely 

wrapped within its green stems the scrolls upon 

which, through hundreds of years, the history and 

literature of the world were to be written; and that 

fact alone was sufficient to engrave its name deeply 

on the thoughts and memories of men. 

In the manufacture of this Egyptian paper, 

papyrus, the outer rind of the stem was first 

The prep- removed, exposing an interior made up of numer- 

aration of ous success i ve fiber layers, some twenty in number. 

papyrus „. . . , . . . 

r r I hese were separated with a pointed instrument, 

or needle, arranged side by side on a hard, smooth 

table, crossed at right-angles with another set of 

slips placed above, and then dampened. After 

pressure had been applied for a number of hours, 

the sheets were taken out and rubbed with a piece 

of ivory, or with a smooth stone or shell, until the 

desired surface was obtained, when the process was 

complete, except for drying in the sun. The inner 

layers of the plant furnished the best product, the 

outer ones being coarse and suitable only for the 

making of cordage. Single sheets made in this 

way were fastened together, as many as might 



Papyrus and Parchment 15 

be required, to form the papyrus rolls, of which 
hundreds have been discovered in recent years. It 
is said that the Romans, when they undertook the 
manufacture of papyrus, made a great improve- 
ment in the sheets by sizing them with flour, to 
which a few drops of vinegar were added, and then 
beating the surface smooth. The Chinese, far Early 

away to the East, also learned some of the secrets ^ inese _ 

r . . T • 1 i- 11 • 1 discoveries 

or paper-making. It is believed that in early 

times they used silk as their basis, but later on 

they made the so-called rice-paper by a method 

similar to that employed in the manufacture of 

papyrus, deftly cutting a continuous slice from the 

pith of the papyrifera. 

From the reed, and the process of manufacture 

through which it passed, the English language has 

gained a number of words. The plant itself, called 

papyrus in the Latin tongue, byblos in the Greek, 

has given us the two words paper and bible. It 

is claimed further that the process of furrowing off 

the different layers of the pith gave us, through 

the Greek word charasso x a P a(7(TW > to furrow, and 

the Greek and Latin charta, a piece of paper, our 

several words chart, card, carte blanche, and, of 

course, the "charta" of that famous document, 

Magna Charta, the great sheet-anchor of English 



1 6 The Story of Paper-Making 

liberties. In the course of manufacture, twenty 
sheets of papyrus were glued together into a 
scapus by the glutinatorie, the first known book- 
binders, and then into a roll known as a volumer, 
from which we get our word volume. The city 
of Paris boasts a volumer of this sort, a papyrus 
manuscript, well preserved, which is thirty feet in 
length. 

The rolls, or papyri, are said to have become 
known in Europe through the French expedition 
into Egypt in 1798, and specimens were repro- 
duced in print by one Cadet in 1805. The 
making of papyrus is mentioned by Philostratus 
as a staple manufacture of Alexandria in a. d. 
244, and it continued to be used in Italy until 
Extensive the twelfth century. The extent to which it was 
use °f employed may be judged by the fact that nearly 
papyrus j^goo rolls were unearthed in the ruins of Hercu- 
laneum, about the year 1753. The durability of 
this substance added greatly to its value, and it is 
claimed that the ancient papyrus manuscripts that 
have been properly preserved are almost as service- 
able to-day as when first made. It is doubtful 
whether a similar statement can be made four 
thousand or even two thousand years hence in 
regard to many of the books printed on nineteenth- 



Papyrus and Parchment 17 

century paper. Chicago has the largest collection 

of ancient papyri west of the Atlantic, consisting 

of three hundred complete pieces and hundreds of 

fragments, which were discovered by an Arab 

sheik while digging along the banks of the Nile. 

Following the making of papyrus came the Parchment 

manufacture of parchment, the use of which in a substltute 
... . . 11-1 for papyrus 

diplomas and certain public documents con- J 

tinues to the present time. As the story runs, 
the invention of the new writing material was due 
to the spirit of rivalry between two cities of the 
ancient world. Attalus, king of Pergamus, was 
anxious to establish in his capital a library that 
would excel the splendid collection at Alexandria, 
but Egypt, having a monopoly of papyrus, re- 
fused to sell to him. But no monopoly of that 
day or this could ever control all the means of 
supplying man's needs. Nature is resourceful, 
and man, when driven by necessity, soon learns 
that her treasures are practically limitless. When 
the supply of one article is for any reason curtailed, 
she furnishes something as good or better to take 
its place. If all the paper in the world to-day 
were owned by a monopoly that refused to sell, 
something would speedily be found to take its 
place. So the inhabitants of Pergamus, being 



1 8 The Story of Paper-Making 

refused papyrus, set about manufacturing a sub- 
stitute, which came to be known among the 
Romans as "pergamena," from which comes our 
word parchment. 
Manufac- The skins of sheep and goats were employed 

ture of j n ^g joking of parchment. These were steeped 

parchment ... , . , .. . c . 

in pits impregnated with lime, and arterward 

stretched upon frames, where their thickness was 
reduced by paring and scraping them with sharp 
instruments. To obtain the fine, uniform, vel- 
vety surface characteristic of the best parchment, 
it was necessary to sprinkle the skin with chalk, and 
rub and polish it with fine pumice-stones, which 
not only smoothed and softened the leather, but 
also improved its color. When it had been re- 
duced to about half its original thickness, it was 
dried for use. Vellum, which still represents the 
acme of luxury in bookbinding, was made in a 
similar manner, from the skins of young calves. 
As early as 1085 b. c., the Hebrews wrote on 
the skins of animals, and it is believed that the 
Medes, at about the same period, used a sub- 
stance resembling parchment, and prepared in a 
similar manner, the cost of land carriage being too 
great to admit of any extensive introduction of 
papyrus into western Asia. "For public docu- 



Papyrus and Parchment 19 

ments, the rock, and for private, the pen and the 
prepared skin, seem to have been preferred by 
them, and in the earlier times, at any rate, they 
employed no other materials." 

For many years parchment was used in Eng- 
land for all deeds of real estate, and so lengthy 
were these documents that it was said it took a 
flock of sheep to convey an acre of land or make 
a marriage settlement. As the age of stone, the 
carved obelisk, the clay tablet, and other crude 
materials was outgrown, so was that of papy- 
rus and parchment. With the next step for- The advent 
ward came paper, and the improvements in its °/P a P er 
manufacture with regard to quality, variety, and 
increase of production, have kept pace with the 
varying and growing demands. It is not given us 
to know what the future may bring forth, but paper 
seems likely to hold sway until the end of time. 



CHAPTER III 

THE ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY OF PAPER 

To the Chinese is now generally conceded the 
discovery of the art of making paper, of the sort 
familiar to us, from fibrous matter reduced to a 
pulp. According to the old saying, "Time and 
patience will change the mulberry leaf into satin." 
The ingenious, painstaking sons of the Flowery 
Kingdom had been demonstrating its truth through 
some centuries, when, about 150 a. d., they dis- 
covered that the mulberry might be put to still 
another use. The tree that they chose for their 
new manufacture was not identical with the one 
upon which they fed their silkworms, and to 
which they were indirectly indebted for their softly 
shimmering silks, but it belonged to the same 
Paper from family. From its bark they made, by a process 
mulberry tnat mus t have seemed to them something akin to 
magic, a material which, in its developed and im- 
proved form, has been of priceless value to the 
world, far exceeding that of the rich and costly 
stuffs woven from the cocoons of the silkworm. 
Compared with modern methods of paper- 

20 



Origin and Early History of Paper 21 

making, this primitive process, which is said to be 
still in vogue in China, was fairly simple. The 
branches of the tree were first boiled in lye to 
remove the bark. Then followed maceration in 
water for several days, after which the outer part 
was scraped off and the inner part boiled in lye, 
until it was separated into fibers. These were 
washed in a pan or sieve, then worked by hand Chinese 
into a pulp, which was spread on a table and beaten me ™ods 
fine with a mallet. The pulp was placed in a tub 
containing an infusion of rice and a root called 
oveni, and thoroughly stirred to mix the materials. 
The sheets were formed by dipping a "mold" 
made of strips of bulrushes, confined in a frame, 
into the vat containing the pulp, which was taken 
out in a thin layer, after the method followed in 
making paper by hand. After molding, the 
sheets were laid one above another, with strips of 
reeds placed between, weights were applied, and 
the sheets were afterward dried in the sun. 

It has been suggested that in regions where the 
water-plant called the conferna grows, Nature her- Nature's 
self teaches the method of making paper from process 
vegetable fibers beaten to a pulp. The plant con- 
sists of slender green filaments, similar to what is 
called frog-spittle. The fibers are disintegrated 



ii The Story of Paper-Making 

by the action of the water, and rise to the surface 
as a scum. Driven hither and thither by the 
winds, tossed by the waves, and carried on resist- 
lessly by the currents, this scum is at last beaten 
into pulp and matted together by the forces whose 
plaything it has been. Bleached by the sun, it is 
finally, in some overflow of the water, cast upon 
the shore to dry, as veritable sheets of paper. But 
if Nature taught the process, man was slow to 
discover the teacher, or to learn the lesson. 

When the Arabs captured the splendid city of 
Samarcand from the Chinese, about 704 a. d., 
they gained something more than material booty, 
for the art of paper-making flourished there, and 
they carried the secret back with them to their 
own towns and cities. Western Europe in turn 
learned it from the Arabs, through the Crusaders, 
who visited Byzantium, Palestine, and Syria. The 
Crusaders followers of the Cross, many of whom were grossly 
learn ignorant and superstitious, went east to christian- 

paper- j 1 con q Uest tne inhabitants of these ancient 
making r . 

lands, and to wrest from the infidels the tomb of 

the Savior, and found to their surprise many arts 

and refinements of which they had been ignorant. 

It was in 11 89 a. d. that the art of making 

paper from pulp was introduced into France. At 



Origin and Early History of Paper 23 

that time the French people were far in advance 
of the English in cultivation and in regard to the 
refinements of life. They were energetic, and took 
great delight in construction, manufacturing, and 
building. Profiting by their new knowledge, they French and 
prosecuted this art with such zeal and industry ^ utc " im ~ 
that they were soon in a position to supply not ' 
only the wants of France, but those of surround- 
ing countries as well. The people of the Neth- 
erlands were stimulated by the example of France, 
and for a long period the French and Dutch were 
the best, and indeed almost the only papers pro- 
duced in Europe. 

No reliable record can be established as to the 
first paper-making in England. It is stated that 
in the personal expense account of Henry VII. of 
England, in 1498, there appears the following 
entry: "For a rewarde at the paper mylne, 16s. 
8d." This would indicate that some kind of 
paper, which gave the name of "paper mylne" to 
the establishment where it was handled or manip- 
ulated, existed in England nearly two hundred 
years before any patent was issued for its manu- 
facture. It was almost two centuries later that the 
patent referred to farther on in this chapter was 
granted, which stated that no such industry had 



24 The Story of Paper-Making 

previously existed in the kingdom. In an old 
book, Wynken de Worde's " De Proprietatibus 
Rerum " (About the Properties of Things), issued 
in 1498, appear these significant lines: 



u 



And John Tate, the Younger, joye mote he brok ! 
Whiche late hathe in England, doo make this paper 

Thynne 
That now in our Englysh, this book is printed Inne." 



English This mill is said to have been located at Hart- 

paper-milh ford, England, and the print of the watermark 
used is given in Herbert's "Typographic Antiqui- 
ties," Vol. I, page 20, as an eight-pointed star sur- 
rounded by a circle. John Tate died in 1498. 

In the year 1558 appeared "Sparks of Friend- 
ship," a book by Thomas Churchyard, who was 
born in 1520 and died in 1604, and who bore the 
title of "Nestor of the Elizabethan era." This 
book mentions the paper-mill of Spillman. A 
poem in a work entitled " Progress of Queen 
Elizabeth," in 1565, has the title, "A Description 
and Playne Discourse of Paper and the whole 
Benefits that Paper Brings, with Rehearsal and 
Setting forth in verse a Paper-myll Built near 
Darthforth, by a High Germaine, called Master 
Spillman, Jeweler to the Queen's Majestie." This 



Origin and Early History of Paper 25 

is often said to have been the first mill in Eng- 
land, but if the quotation with regard to John 
Tate is intended to imply that the paper was made 
by him in England, then certainly there must have 
been a paper-mill in operation in that country 
nearly a hundred years before, and this, taking 
the entry of King Henry VII. as proof of an 
English mill, must have been the second, if not 
the third, of its kind. It is said that Spielman, 
or Spillman, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth as Recognition 
a fitting honor and reward for the noble work of h royalty 
having built a paper-mill at Dartford, England, in 
1588. A lease recorded in the Land Revenue 
Records of England, in 1591, reads, "Penlifton 
Co., Cambridge, lease of water, called paper-mills, 
late of Bishopric of Ely to John George, dated 
14th. July, 34th. Elizabeth," which would seem 
to indicate a third or fourth mill in 1592. 

In 1649 the watermark of the finest English 
paper (whether made in England or not) bore the 
royal arms, but later on, in contempt of Charles 
I., a fool with cap and bells was substituted for 
the king's arms. 

For some reason, the industry of paper-making 
languished in England, and in 1670 the people 
of the "right little, tight little island" were almost 



16 The Story of Paper-Making 

entirely dependent upon France for their supply 
of the indispensable fabric, its manufacture, if car- 
ried on at all in their own country, meeting with 
but slight success. In the " History of Comme- 
ret," by Anderson, published in 1690, it is 
claimed that this was the date of the first manu- 
facture of paper in England, and that previous to 
this time England had bought paper of her 
neighbor across the Channel to the amount of 
^100,000 annually. The war with France occa- 
sioned such high duties on foreign products as to 
make the cost of importation too great ; but, as 
sometimes happens, the temporary deprivation 
was in course of time transmuted into a perma- 
nent benefit. The way was opened for the home 
manufacturer, and the opportunity was soon im- 
proved by French Protestant refugees, who, flee- 
ing from persecution in their own land, settled in 
England and established paper-mills. In 1687 
appeared a proclamation for the establishment of 
White a mill for the making of white writing-paper ; in 
writing- t h e following year it was stated, in an article in 
* r the " British Merchant," that hardly any but 
brown paper was manufactured, while in 1689, 
according to report, paper became so scarce and 
high that all printing ceased. It is evident that 






Origin and Early History of Paper 27 

up to the time when the patents of 1675 an d 
1685 were granted, the industry was in anything 
but a prosperous condition, existing only in brief 
and isolated attempts at manufacture, and com- 
prehended merely the crudest products. 

The first British patent for paper-making was Early 
granted to Charles Hildegard, February, 1665, ^ n S^ s " 
for "the way and art of making blue paper used 
by sugar bakers and others." A decade later, in 
January, 1675, was g ran ted the second patent, 
already referred to in this chapter, which was for 
the making of "white paper for the use of writing 
and printing, being a new manufacture and never 
before practiced in any way in any of our king- 
doms or dominions." Another decade inter- 
vened between the second and the third patents, 
the latter bearing the date of July 4, 1685, and 
being "for the true art and way of making Eng- 
lish paper for writing, printing, and for other uses, 
both as good and serviceable in all respects and as 
white as any French or Dutch paper." 

A seeming contradiction of the statement of 
the second patent is found in Shakespeare's 
Henry VII., where Jack Cade, in 1450, makes the 
accusation against Lord Say : "Thou hast most 
traitorously corrupted the youth of the realm in 



28 The Story of Paper-Making 

erecting a grammar school, and whereas, before, 
our forefathers had no other books but the score 
and the tally, thou hast caused printing to be 
used ; and contrary to the king, his crown and his 
dignity, thou hast built a paper-mill." In the 
same act Cade observes, "Is not this a lamentable 
thing, that, of the skin of an innocent lamb should 
be made parchment ; that parchment being scrib- 
bled o'er should undo a man?" thus making it 
evident that parchment and not paper was in 
general use. Since, however, Shakespeare delin- 
eated Cade as a low, ignorant rebel, we are not 
compelled to believe that he was necessarily truth- 
ful or historically correct in all his accusations. 
The charges put into his mouth are intended to 
exhibit his ignorance, and his prejudice against 
all learning or refinement, extending even to 
decency of dress and comportment. 

Water- There is always some dispute as to exact dates. 

mark of \ t j s claimed that about 1540, Henry VIII. of 
y ' England used for his private correspondence, a 
paper whose watermark represented a hog with a 
miter. This was to show his contempt for the 
pope at Rome, with whom he had so bitterly 
quarreled. It may have been manufactured for 
him by special order in Germany or the Nether- 



Origin and Early History of Paper 29 

lands, or it may have been made by foreign set- 
tlers who returned to their own country, so that 
the trade was afterward lost for a time in Eng- 
land, and its manufacture was not known to the 
authorities that granted the patents. 

Long before this, paper-making had been in- Spanish and 

troduced into Spain by the hordes of Saracenic lta '- ian 
, , . r \ r • makers 

invaders, who, coming over from Africa on a 

plundering expedition, had ended by making con- 
quest of the whole peninsula. When, however, 
the long struggle between Christian and Moor 
ended in the downfall of the latter, and his ex- 
pulsion from the land that had seemed to him the 
paradise of the prophet, the industry declined in 
Spain, to be revived at Fabriano, in the province 
of Ancona, in Central Italy, which soon rose into 
prominence as a paper-making center. Later on, 
in 1340, a paper-mill was established in Padua. 

The beginning of the industry in America was America's 
almost coincident with the granting of patents fi rst man ~ 
for the manufacture of paper in England. A ^ 
paper-mill was established by William Ritten- 
house, a native of Holland, at Germantown, 
Pennsylvania, in the year 1690, one of the build- 
ers and owners being William Bradford, a Phila- 
delphia printer, who was afterward the owner of 



30 The Story of Paper-Making 

the first printing office in New York City. It 
was through him that Benjamin Franklin, in 1723, 
received his first introduction to a temporary home, 
and employment, in Philadelphia. The paper at 
this first American mill was made from linen rags, 
and the product was about two hundred and fifty 
pounds per day. The mill was on a stream sub- 
sequently called Paper-mill Run, which empties 
into the Wissahickon. In 1697, William Brad- 
ford, probably in preparation for his intended 
removal to New York City, rented his quarter 
interest in this paper-mill near Germantown to 
William and Nicholas Rittenhouse, for a term of 
ten years, the annual rental being "ye full quan- 
tity of seven reams of printing paper, two reams 
good writing paper and two reams of blue paper." 
William De Wees, a brother-in-law of Nicholas 
Rittenhouse, in 17 10 erected another mill in that 
part of Germantown called Crefeld, this being 
also on the banks of a small stream that emptied 
into the Wissahickon. 
Russian It is stated by several authorities that in the 
mills vear iy I2 Peter the Great of Russia visited 
Dresden, and was so pleased with the process of 
paper-making as he witnessed it there that he se- 
cured workmen and sent them to Moscow, where 



Origin and Early History of Paper 31 

they erected a paper-mill with many valuable 
royal grants and privileges. The following year, 
17 13, saw a revival of the industry in England, 
where it had again gone to decay, and where 
Thomas Watkin, a stationer of London, brought 
it into great repute in a short time. 

In 1 7 14 a Mr. Wilcox, who, it is stated, fur- 
nished paper to Benjamin Franklin, erected a 
paper-mill in Delaware. The date of the erec- 
tion of this mill is given by another authority as 
1729, and the place Chester Creek, Delaware 
County, Pennsylvania, where paper was still made 
by hand as late as 1870. It may possibly have 
been a second mill that was built by Thomas 
Wilcox at that time, in which case there would 
be no conflict of authorities. The manufacture 
made rapid strides in this young and growing 
country, so that in 1770 there were forty paper- Rapid 
mills in the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, advance- 

and Delaware. The advance among the leading . 

& . & Amer 

nations of Europe during the same period was 
equally rapid. The manufacture was introduced 
into Massachusetts in 171 7, and into Norwich, 
Connecticut, in 1768, but the progress in New 
England was not so rapid as in the states where it 
had been first established. 



tea 



32 The Story of Paper-Making 

A bill which came before the New York Leg- 
islature in 1724, but failed of passage, introduced 
the policy of protection for infant industries, in 
an exceedingly narrow and discriminating sense. 
The beneficiary of the bill was William Bradford, 
doubtless the same man who owned the quarter 
interest in the first Pennsylvania mill, and by its 
provisions he and his assigns were to be encour- 
aged to make paper, while all other persons were 
to be prohibited from manufacturing it in the 
province during a period of fifteen years. 

Man's untiring endeavor, his constant effort 
through the centuries to find something better 
suited to his needs, had in a figurative sense suc- 
ceeded in turning stone into paper. It remained 
for two apprentices of Rittenhouse, who erected 
a third paper-mill in Pennsylvania in 1728, to 
advance the claim that this could be done literally, 
Pulp from that stone, the primitive material on which had been 
stone carved the first written characters of the race could 

be converted into a paper resembling asses' skins. 
We have no means of knowing what the so-called 
stone was, nor what process was followed, but it is 
safe to assume that both material and methods 
were similar to those employed at the present time 
in the manufacture of asbestos papers. 



Origin and Early History of Paper 33 

The year 1728, which marked the establish- 
ment of the third mill in Pennsylvania, was a 
notable one in the annals of paper-making. It is 
stated that in that year William Bradford owned 
a mill at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, which is 
supposed to have been the first one in the state, 
while in the same year the General Court or Leg- 
islature of Massachusetts granted a ten-year patent A state 
to a company for the exclusive right to manufac- S rant 
ture paper. By the terms of this grant the com- 
pany was to make at least 115 reams of brown and 
60 reams of writing paper in the first fifteen 
months, and to increase a certain amount each 
year until the annual product of the various qual- 
ities should be not less than 500 reams a year. 
The mill established under this patent went into 
operation at Milton, one of the small towns near 
Boston, in 1730. It was erected by Daniel 
Henchman, an enterprising stationer of Boston, 
and is supposed to have been discontinued owing 
to the impossibility of securing a skilled workman, 
though in 173 1 Henchman produced before the 
General Court samples of paper made at the mill. 
In the following year another stationer of Boston, 
Richard Fry, who was also bookseller, paper- 
maker and rag merchant, returned thanks to the 



34 The Story of Paper-Making 

people for gathering rags, of which he had already 
received several pounds weight, in response to a 
request in a previously published advertisement. 
Crude During these early days of the industry both 

methods and me thods and machinery were crude. It was not 
until 1750 that wove molds came into use and 
did away with the roughness of laid paper. Six 
years later engines were introduced to facilitate the 
process of reducing the rags to pulp, which had 
previously been accomplished by pounding, while 
in 1759 cylinders provided with sharp steel blades 
were invented in Holland for the same purpose, 
and soon came into general use, taking the place 
of the heavy stampers, which had required a great 
expenditure of power in their operation. 

The mill at Milton, Massachusetts, established 
in 1730, and discontinued for lack of workman, 
was put into operation again by a citizen of Bos- 
ton. Finding among the British troops stationed 
in the city a soldier who was also a paper-maker, 
he obtained for him a furlough of sufficient dura- 
tion to enable him to get the mill into running 
order once more. The state of Connecticut showed 
its appreciation of the important industry by issu- 
ing a special charter to the mill at Norwich, already 
mentioned as having been built in 1768, and by 



Origin and Early History of Paper 35 

the payment of a bounty to the manufacturer, 
Christopher Leffingwell. 

There were constant appeals for rags in this Scarcity of 
early stage of the industry. The Boston News ra S s 
Letter in 1769 published an article stating that 
"the bell cart will go through Boston before the 
end of next month to collect rags for the paper- 
mills at Milton, when all the people that will 
encourage the paper manufactory may dispose of 
them," and followed with an appeal in "rime." 
Apparently the people of New England did not 
"encourage the paper manufactory" to any great 
extent, for at the outbreak of the Revolution there 
were only three paper-mills in that section of the 
country, and as a consequence, paper became 
exceedingly scarce during the war. 

Connecticut gave state aid to the mill at Nor- 
wich for two years, but withdrew its special en- 
couragement in 1770, having paid Leffingwell a 
bounty of 2d. per quire on 4,020 quires of writ- 
ing-paper, and id. a quire on 10,600 quires of 
printing-paper. 

In the South, the industry was not established Mills in the 
as early as in New England and the Middle South 
States, and the first mills were encouraged by 
loans and rewards. The Maryland convention 



36 The Story of Paper- Making 

in 1775 resolved that ^4°° be granted and ad- 
vanced to James Dorsey for starting a paper-mill, 
he to repay the same within two years, without 
interest, either in cash or in writing or cartridge 
paper. In the same year, South Carolina offered 
X5°° currency to the first one who should erect 
and establish a paper-mill in the colony, the 
money to be paid upon the production of three 
reams of good writing-paper made at the mill. 

In the year 1776, a paper-mill at East Hart- 
ford, Connecticut, supplied the press at Hartford, 
which issued about 8,000 papers a week, and 
manufactured also the writing paper used in the 
state, together with much of that used by the 
Continental Congress. 
Paper- With the outbreak of hostilities came a keener 

makers realization of the importance of the paper inter- 

exemp jrm Q . an( j ^g greatest care was exercised in provid- 

military . 

service in S ^ or a ^ details of the manufacture. In 1776 

Massachusetts provided by law for the appoint- 
ment of a suitable person in each town to receive 
rags for the paper-mills ; and the inhabitants were 
admonished to be careful to save even the small- 
est quantity of rags. In anticipation of the com- 
ing conflict, New York, in the same year, by 
special enactment, exempted from military service 



Origin and Early History of Paper 37 

the master workman and two attendants at each 
paper-mill. The Council of Public Safety of 
Pennsylvania went a step further. The Conti- 
nental Congress having resolved on the retention 
of paper-makers, the Council took measures to 
prevent them from joining the volunteers who 
were about to march to New Jersey. 

These various provisions and enactments fur- 
nish a striking object-lesson as to the value of 
paper, even to the public safety. The wisdom of 
these precautions soon became evident. Notwith- 
standing all the care that had been exercised, the 
supply ran low, and after advertising for paper, and A sermon 
ordering the people to produce all they had, it was effectively 
found necessary, just before the battle of Mon- 
mouth, to send files of soldiers to search for the 
indispensable article wherever there was a likeli- 
hood of finding it. In the garret of a house in 
which Benjamin Franklin had once lived and had 
his printing-office were found about twenty-five 
hundred copies of a sermon by Rev. Gilbert Ten- 
ant, upon " Defensive War," which had been 
printed by Franklin. These were used for mus- 
ket cartridges and "wadding," and in the battle 
that raged about old Tenant church, where fought 
representatives from every one of the thirteen 



delivered 



38 The Story of Paper-Making 

colonies, mingling their patriotic blood upon the 
historic field, the sermon proved one of the most 
effective ever delivered. The Rev. Mr. Tenant, 
when he penned his discourse, probably had no 
idea that it would ever be delivered in so forceful 
a manner, just outside the doors of his church. 
The fact that these sermons were stored in the 
garret of Benjamin Franklin, printer, and held for 
payment, will perhaps call forth a rueful smile 
from the modern printer, who has himself had 
some experience of similar sort, the final outcome 
of which was not so satisfactory as this use of these 
old sermons must have proved to the patriot 
printer Franklin. 
Great As the war advanced, the scarcity of paper 

scarcity of causec [ mucn inconvenience. It was on this ac- 
count that the journal of the second session of 
the New York Assembly, in 1781, was not 
printed. In 1789, so it is stated, the paper-mill 
nearest to Albany, New York, was one at Ben- 
nington, in the state of Vermont. The product 
was frequently brought from the mill on horse- 
back, and although it was very coarse and un- 
bleached compared with the paper of to-day, it 
was so valuable that every torn or broken sheet 
was repaired with paste. This work was so neatly 




< 

3h 



'Si ■ 

m 

« 

Q 
Z 



t/3 

W 

X 

'Si 

< 

W 
X 
H 



Origin and Early History of Paper 39 

and deftly done that in old copies of the "Reg- 
ister," preserved in the Albany Institute, the 
patching can be seen only by holding the paper 
to the light. 

The first mill to be established in the northern 
part of New York was erected at Troy in 1793. 
About that time, or in 1801, the postmaster of 
the city issued a special plea under the heading, 
"Please save your rags," in which he said: "The appeal for 
press contributes more to the diffusion of knowl- ra & s 
edge and information than any other medium ; 
rags are the primary requisite in the manufacture 
of paper, and without paper the newspapers of 
our country, those cheap, useful, and agreeable 
companions of the citizen and the farmer, which 
in a political and moral view are of the highest 
national importance, must decline." He then 
went on to show how, with sufficient rags, the 
paper-mills of the state could meet all demands ; 
how the patriotic saving of rags had been incul- 
cated and was practiced in New England, saving 
to Connecticut alone $50,000 a year, and how the 
thrifty New England housewife had reduced the 
methods of saving to a science, or rather to a fine 
art, and closed as follows: "The rich, who regard 
the interest of their country, will direct their chil- 



mills 



40 The Story of Paper-Making 

dren or domestics to place a bag or box in some 
convenient place as a deposit for rags, that none 
may be lost by being swept into the street or fire; 
the sales of which saving will reward the attention 
of the faithful servant, and encourage the pros- 
perous enterprise of prudence." 
The estab- Zenas Crane, of Worcester, Massachusetts, 
lishment of se eking a favorable site for a paper-mill, visited 
Berkshire County in 1799, and finally decided 
upon a location on the south branch of the Housa- 
tonic, at Dalton. That small beginning was like 
the acorn from which springs the giant oak. It 
was the foundation of the great paper interest of 
that region, which has made the name of the beau- 
tiful hill county famous, both for the importance 
and extent of the manufacture and for the excel- 
lence and fineness of its products. 

As we have already seen, the early paper-mills 
were greatly hampered by the scarcity of rags, 
and matters grew worse instead of better during 
the last fifteen years of the century. But the year 
1800 brought some relief. Matthew Kooper, of 
France, who in the following year succeeded in 
making paper from straw and wood, invented a 
process by which 700 reams of clean, white paper 
were turned out weekly from such old written, 



Origin and Early History of Paper 41 

printed, and waste paper as had previously been 
thrown away. In the face of a rag famine, such a 
process was a great boon to the paper manufac- 
turer. 

The following appeal, issued by Zenas Crane 
and his associates to the people of Worcester in 
1 801, shows how great was the scarcity of rags at 
that time, and helps to complete the history lead- 
ing up to the erection of the new mill at Dalton: 

AMERICANS ! 

ENCOURAGE YOUR OWN MANUFACTORIES, AND 
THEY WILL IMPROVE. 

LADIES, SAVE YOUR RAGS. 

As the subfcribers have it in contemplation to 

ere£t a paper mill in Dalton the enfuing fpring ; 

and the bufinefs being very beneficial to the 

community at large, they flatter themfelves that 

they fhall meet with due encouragement. A rag 

And that every woman who has the good of famine 

her country and the intereft of her own family 

at heart, will patronize them by faving their 

rags and fending them to their Manufactory, 

or to the neareft Storekeeper — for which the 

Subfcribers will give a generous price. 

Henry Wiswall, 

Zenas Crane, 

John Willard. 
Worcefter, Feb. 8, 1801. 



42 The Story of Paper-Making 



The Butler A few years later, but yet early in the life of 
mills of tne nineteenth century, Zebediah Butler, Sr., and 
his son, Zebediah Butler, Jr., were interested in a 
paper-mill at Hubbell's Falls, Vt., and it was here 
that Oliver Morris Butler, elder brother of J. W. 
Butler, learned his trade — here, too, J. W. Butler 
was born. The paper made was of the kind now 
known as Straw Wrapping. Later this mill became 
the property of James I. Cutler, and Oliver Morris 
Butler went south to Lee, Massachusetts, to per- 
fect his knowledge of the paper industry, there 
having been erected at Lee a large and modern 
plant representative of the latest and best ideas 
then known to the art of paper-making. In 1840 
Oliver Morris Butler returned to Hubbell's Falls, 
and, being unable to collect certain obligations due 
him, took paper in part payment — this particular 
invoice of finished paper he brought west to Chi- 
cago. The venture, while not profitable, is yet 
of much interest, as it practically marks the begin- 
ning of the present J. W. Butler Paper Company. 
The Butler In 1841 Oliver Morris Butler moved west 
mills the mto minois, locating at St. Charles, a town about 
pf/ est thirty miles from Chicago and situated upon the 

Fox River. Here he immediately built a wrap- 
ping-paper mill; later, and upon the opposite 



Origin and Early History of Paper 43 

bank of the same stream, he erected a print-paper 
plant, the first of its kind west of Pittsburg. It is 
also recorded in the Atlas Biographical Dictionary 
that Simeon and Asa Butler, members of another 
branch of the Butler family, made the first letter- 
paper, the product of an American mill, that was 
used in the Senate of the United States. 

The desire for improvement in material condi- 
tions, for better implements and better methods, 
has marked every stage of man's advance. The 
same spirit that led primitive man to seek a better 
and more convenient medium of expression than 
the cumbersome bowlder or the carved obelisk, 
manifested itself again, centuries later, in the 
untiring zeal with which manufacturers sought to 
improve a product that may be considered the 
final successor of the bowlder and the obelisk. 
The beginning of the century saw many improve- 
ments in the methods of paper-making. In 1804 The great 
Messrs. Henry and Seely Fourdrinier, enterprising Fourdrinier 
and public-spirited stationers doing business in 
England, brought to a good degree of perfection 
the great machine which bears their name, and 
which is described at some length in a subsequent 
chapter dealing with the methods of modern paper 
manufacture. The machine had been invented, 



44 The Story of Paper-Making 

though not perfected, a year or two previously, by 
a Mr. Roberts in France; in 1805, Mr. Donkin, 
the engineer of the Fourdrinier Brothers, who had 
built the machine, further improved it by altering 
the position of the cylinders so as to dispense with 
an upper web. By this change the process was so 
simplified that the work of six vats could be done 
in twelve hours. These improvements were made 
in a paper-mill at Two Waters, England ; but the 
machine that can now do in a day the work that 
formerly required three months was not immedi- 
ately introduced into this country. 

The increase of paper-mills in the United States 
had been so rapid that in 18 10 the number in the 
country was stated to be 185. In 1811, Zenas 
Crane, who had built the first mill at Dalton, since 
known as the Berkshire Mills, erected a new mill 
at the lower falls of the Housatonic. These pio- 
neers gave a great impetus to the manufacture, 
Many new a nd paper-mills sprang up as if by magic along all 
the swift-flowing mountain streams of New Eng- 
land. 

A paper-mill, the first built in the British 
American provinces, was erected at what is now 
Bedford, and in the same year, 18 16, a paper 
factory was put into operation at Pittsburg, Penn- 



Origin and Early History of Paper 45 

sylvania. It was operated by a 16 horse-power 
steam-engine, employed forty persons, and with 
an annual output valued at only $20,000 required 
the consumption of 10,000 bushels of coal and the 
use of 1 20,000 pounds of rags, showing that the 
method must have been slow and cumbersome, 
and the margin of profit small. 

It is believed that the Gilpins, who were cele- 
brated paper-makers on the Brandy wine, near 
Philadelphia, were the first to introduce paper 
machinery from France and England, about the 
year 1 820, but the experiment proved so expensive 
that it met with little encouragement at that time. 
Some interesting facts were brought out during 
this year by a petition to Congress from the paper- 
makers of Pennsylvania and Delaware, who asked 
for a duty on paper, claiming that seventy paper- 
mills, with ninety vats, employing 950 persons, and 
using 2,600 tons of rags, with an annual output 
of $500,000 in value, had by foreign competition 
been reduced to seventeen vats. The allied trades Duty on 
of printing and publishing were so closely con- books 
nected with paper-making that what affected one 
affected all ; it was this community of interests 
that led representatives of the three industries to 
unite, in 1822, in a memorial to Congress, urging 



4-6 The Story of Paper-Making 

that the duty on books should not be reduced, 
as the books, entirely of American products and 
manufacture, which were issued in the country, 
amounted in value to more than $1,000,000 per 
annum. 

Notwithstanding foreign competition, possibly 
because of that stimulus, improvements were 
constantly being made in methods and machinery. 
The agitator now used on paper machines, con- 
sisting of a semi-cylindrical cradle vibrating so as 
to prevent the fibers from being arranged parallel 
one to another, the result of which would be to 
make the paper weaker in one direction than in 
the other, was patented by Reuben Fairchild of 
Trumbull, Connecticut, in 1829. In the follow- 
ing year Thomas Gilpin of Philadelphia invented 
The what are called "calenders," for giving the pol- 
caknder j sne d surface to paper. These are described later, 
in Chapter V. True cylinders were first made in 
this same year by an inventor in England. The 
result was gained by grinding the rollers together 
while a stream of water flowed over them, this 
operation requiring many weeks. Through these 
various inventions and improvements, and through 
the introduction of machinery from Europe, by 
means of which the coarsest of rags and other 




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Origin and Early History of Paper 47 

materials were cleaned, bleached, and purified, Improved 
and increased three hundred per cent in value, a mac " iner y 
decided impetus was imparted to the manufac- 
ture. The advance in the industry during the 
following years was so marked that in 1842, 
according to an estimate made at a meeting of 
paper-makers held in New York City in that 
year, the paper-mill property of the United States 
was valued at $16,000,000, and the annual output 
at $15,000,000, while the value of rags imported 
from Europe amounted to $468,230, and the raw 
stock, rags, and other material collected in the 
United States to $6,000,000. With the adoption, 
in 1843, of the devices for a rotating strainer, for 
draining water from the pulp in the washing or 
beating vats, came another advance in the process 
of paper-making. 

In 1 844 a jobbing house was opened in Chicago The first 
by Oliver Morris Butler to dispose of the paper P a P^- hmse 
made at his St. Charles Mill. Several years later 
J. W. Butler, the present head of the J. W. Butler 
Paper Company, was placed in sole charge of the 
Chicago branch. Oliver Morris Butler was also a 
part owner and president of the Lockport Paper 
Company, of Lockport, Illinois, a successful plant 
erected for the manufacture of Straw Board, and 



48 The Story of Paper-Making 

he remained active in the trade up to the time 

of his death, which occurred in 1888. The store 

which he established in 1 844 and put under the 

management of his younger brother, J. W. Butler, 

touches closely, through him, his ancestors, and 

Genealogy their earlier years as paper-makers, nearly the 

of the whole of the nineteenth century in the line of the 
Butlers as . . • 1 • <-r«i 1 • i« 

taker- P a P er industry in this country. 1 hat this direct 

makers branch of the Butler family may have had even 
earlier identification with paper-making is not im- 
probable ; the family line is clearly and directly 
traceable as continuous residents in America back 
to the earlier half of the seventeenth century, only 
a few years subsequent to the Pilgrims' landing, 
but the meager records of our earliest settlers 
seldom speak of their vocations, and our first 
positive knowledge of the Butler family's connec- 
tion with the paper industry is early in the nine- 
teenth century. 



CHAPTER IV 

EARLY METHODS OF PAPER-MAKING 

"As far as the East is from the West," so 
great is the difference between the methods and 
processes of the slow-going Orient and those 
that prevail in the Occident. 

It is fully a century and a half since Berkeley 
gave expression to his faith in the high destiny 
of the West : 

"Westward the course of empire takes its way; 
The four first acts already past, 
A fifth shall close the drama with the day; 
Time's noblest offspring is the last." 

As the years followed each other swiftly in the 
past, it became strikingly evident that the world 
must look to the Occident for industrial activity Progress of 
and progress, and for the practical application of st 

new inventions and discoveries. And yet, through 
the inevitable exception that proves the rule, we 
occasionally find East and West working along 
strikingly similar lines. The making of paper 
by hand, as carried on in our own country in 

49 



So The Story of Paper-Making 

early days, and to a limited extent at the pres- 
ent time, furnishes such an exception. In many 
respects, the process is not unlike that followed 
by the Chinese in making paper from the bark 
of the mulberry-tree, which has already been de- 
scribed in the preceding chapter. In either case, 
whatever the material employed, the first step, 
which was of prime importance, was to remove 
from the fibers all glutinous, resinous, or other 
superfluous matter. The fibers are the slender, 
elongated cells, the enduring portion of the plant 
that gives to the paper its strength, toughness, 
and elasticity. 

Before the science of chemistry had been called 
upon to furnish its potent aid in the process of 
paper-making, the rags used were moistened and 
Decomposi- piled together in some warm, damp place, often 
twn of ma cellar, where they were left to decay for a 
^ period — twenty days or more. During this time, 

the perishable portion, sometimes spoken of as 
vegetable gluten, fermented or decayed to such 
an extent that it could be washed from the 
fibrine, or long, white elastic filaments. Before 
being submitted to the process of decomposi- 
tion, the rags were of course dusted, and, as 
far as possible, cleansed from all mineral, foreign, 



Early Methods of Paper-Making 51 

or indissoluble substances, after which they were 
cut into small pieces. When the fermentation 
engendered by heat and moisture had done its 
important work, the rags were boiled and washed, 
and finally beaten to a smooth pulp by the use 
of mallets. 

In the early days of paper-making, before the 
discovery of the use of chemical agents to remove 
the coloring matter, the color of the paper was 
determined by that of the rags or other material, 
modified somewhat by the boiling and washing. 
When it was discovered that certain chemicals 
would dissolve or separate the coloring matter 
from the tissue, one great factor in the cost of 
making white paper was eliminated. Lye, lime, 
solutions of chlorine and of chloride of lime were 
employed for the purpose. 

The fibers having been separated, by this slow Hand-made 
and tedious method, from all foreign matter, they p rocess 
were placed in a vat, with a proper admixture of 
water to form a soft, slightly cohering mass of 
" pulp." The next step in the process was the 
forming of the paper sheets. For this purpose 
the paper-maker employed a fine wire screen, or 
cloth, called the "mold," which was oblong in 
shape, and supported by a light frame under- 



52 The Story of Paper- Making 

neath. Above this was placed a very shallow 
frame known as the " deckel," which in size and 
shape corresponded exactly with the mold. Dip- 
ping the mold into the mass of pulp, the operator 
filled it even with the top of the deckel, the thick- 
ness of the paper being determined by the depth 
of the deckel-frame. Then as the water from the 
pulp drained through the wire cloth, the operator 
moved the mold back and forth, giving a constant, 
even, and gentle motion to the mass within. 

The manner in which the wires of the mold 
were arranged gave to certain papers their distin- 
guishing characteristics. In some molds the wire 
was woven like cloth, and the product was there- 
fore known as "wove" paper; in others, the 
small wires ran only one way, straight and very 
close together, and were crossed by stronger wires 
an inch or so apart, the paper in this case being 
The called "laid" paper. At some point in the wire 

watermark f tne m old a small figure was worked out, also 
in wire, and as the pulp was shaken it became a 
little thinner over the design, leaving the impress 
known as the "watermark." 

When the pulp had been properly drained, 
and matted together, the mold was passed on to 
another operator, who was known as the " coucher," 



Early Methods of Paper-Making S3 

from the fact that his work was the turning of the 
moist sheet of pulp upon a sheet of felt stretched 
over a board termed a "couch." Over this first 
layer of pulp was placed another sheet of felt, then 
another mold full of the pulp, and so on until 
there was obtained a pile, or "post," as it was 
called, several quires in thickness. The layers 
were then subjected to heavy pressure, by which 
as much of the water as possible was squeezed 
out, when the sheets of felt were removed, and 
pressure was applied a second time to the paper 
that remained. The sheets of paper on being 
taken out were hung over ropes or poles to dry, 
in some room or loft. 

At this point in the process the paper would 
be open and porous, and would naturally absorb 
ink, instead of carrying it in lines or letters upon 
its surface. To overcome this defect, the paper 
was dipped in a solution made of clippings of 
hides, horns, or hoofs, or in the gelatine prepared 
from leather and parchment clippings. The pro- 
cess was, and is still, termed " sizing," while the Sizing 
material is known as "size," and is used to render 
the paper non-absorbent, also to fill up the pores 
and give an even surface. After being dipped in 
this solution, the sheets were pressed again, and 



54 The Story of Paper-Making 

for a second time hung up to dry ; if a smoother 

surface was desired, it was obtained by passing 

the paper between metal rollers. 

Hand-made paper is now made to a limited 

extent in America, and to a still greater extent in 

Bank of England. All Bank of England notes are printed 

England on hand-made paper, two notes to a sheet, so that 
notes 

three edges of every note are rough. Working 

under the old method, it took three men a day to 

mold, press, and hang up to dry, or finish, four 

thousand small sheets of paper, while the process 

from beginning to end required about three 

From tree to months. In these modern days, as will be seen 

paper in a ] a t erj paper can be made in twenty-four hours from 

a tree standing in the forest, in the glory of its full 

strength and vigor; though in actual practice a 

longer time is taken in covering all the different 

processes. Truly the times are changed, and 

everything is changed with them ! 



c 



CHAPTER V 

MODERN PAPER-MAKING 

Though the steady march of progress and 
invention has given to the modern paper-maker 
marvelous machines by which the output is in- 
creased a thousand-fold over that of the old, slow 
methods, he still has many of the same difficulties 
to overcome that confronted his predecessor. 
While the use of wood pulp has greatly changed 
the conditions as regards the cheaper grades of this 
staple, the ragman is to-day almost as important 
to the manufacturer of the higher grades as he was 
one hundred years ago, when the saving of rags 
was inculcated as a domestic virtue and a patriotic 
duty. Methods have changed, but the material 
remains the same. In a complete modern mill, The modern 
making writing and other high-grade papers, the mi ^ 
process begins with unsightly rags as the material 
from which to form the white sheets that are to 
receive upon their spotless polished surface the 
thoughts of philosophers and statesmen, the ten- 
der messages of affection, the counsels and admo- 

55 



56 The Story of Paper-Making 

nitions of ministers, the decisions of grave and 
learned judges, and all the 

" Wisdom of things, mysterious, divine," that 
" Illustriously doth on paper shine," 

as was duly set forth in rhyme by the " Boston 
News Letter" in 1769. "The bell cart will go 
through Boston about the end of next month," 
it announced, and appealed to the inhabitants of 
that modern seat of learning and philosophy to 
save their rags for the occasion, and thus en- 
courage the industry. 
The methods The rags do not come to the mammoth fac- 
of to-day tories of to-day in "bell carts," but by the car- 
load, in huge bales, gathered from all sections of 
this great Republic, as well as from lands beyond 
the eastern and the western oceans. The square, 
compact, steam-compressed bundles are carried 
by elevators well up toward the top of the build- 
ing, where they await the knife of the "opener." 
When they have been opened, the "feeder" 
throws the contents by armfuls into the " thrasher." 
The novice or layman, ignorant of the state in 
which rags come to the mill, will find their con- 
dition a most unpleasant surprise, especially dis- 
agreeable to his olfactory nerves. Yet the 



room 



Modern Paper-Making 57 

unsavory revelation comes with more force a little 
farther on, in the "assorting-room." The 
"thrasher" is a great cylindrical receptacle, re- The 
volving rapidly, which is supplied with long tf}ras " er 
wooden beaters or arms, passing through a 
wooden cylinder, and driven by power. When 
the rags have been tossed in, there ensues a great 
pounding and thrashing, and the dust is carried 
off in suction air-tubes, while the whipped rags 
are discharged and carried to the "sorting" and The sorting 
"shredding" room. Here the rags are assorted 
as to size, condition, and the presence of buttons, 
hooks and eyes, or other material that must be 
removed. Then those that need further atten- 
tion are passed on to the " shredders," these as 
well as the "sorters" being women. The "shred- 
ders " stand along a narrow counter ; in front of 
each one there is fastened a long scythe-blade, 
with its back toward the operator and its point 
extending upward, the shank being firmly fixed 
to the table or operating board. Here buttons, 
hard seams, and all similar intruders are disposed 
of, and the larger pieces of rags are cut into 
numerous small ones on the scythe-blades. The 
rags thus prepared are tossed by the women into 
receptacles in the tables. The work in this room 



58 The Story of Paper-Making 

is the most disagreeable and unwholesome of any 
in the entire process of manufacture, and this 
despite the fact that these rags, too, have been 
thrashed, and freed from an amount of dust and 
dirt beyond ordinary belief. 

While watching the operations carried on 
here, it is impossible to repress the wish that rags 
might be bought otherwise than by the pound, 
for, unfortunately, filth, dust, and dirt weigh, 
and to wash rags only reduces the weight. 
While this is a true reflection of the condition in 
the average mill, it is pleasant to know, however, 
there are others of the higher class that are 
decided exceptions, as far as dust and dirt are 
concerned. Such are the mills making high- 
The higher grade ledger and bond papers, as well as the mill 
grades manufacturing the paper that is used for the 

printing of our "greenbacks," to which further 
reference will be made later. In these excep- 
tional mills everything is neat and perfectly clean, 
all the stock used being new and fresh from the 
cotton or linen mills, or from factories producing 
cloth goods, like shirt and corset factories, and 
others of the same sort. The sorting and shred- 
ding room is always large and light, with windows 
on all sides, and is well ventilated, offering a 



Modern Paper-Making 59 

decided contrast in many respects to the less 
cleanly mills first referred to, where the women 
must wear bonnets or hoods for the protection of 
the hair. In either case the process is certainly 
an improvement over the old plan of leaving the 
rags to decay in a cellar to expedite the removal 
of the glutinous matter. 

From the "sorting" and "shredding" room 
the rags are conveyed to the " cutter," where The cutter 
they are cut and chopped by revolving knives, 
leaving them in small pieces and much freer from 
dust and grit. Various ingenious devices are 
employed for removing metal and other hard and 
injurious matter, magnetic brushes serving this 
purpose in some mills. When the " cutter " has 
finished its work, the still very dirty rags go for a 
further cleansing to the " devil," or " whipper," The devil 
a hollow cone with spikes projecting within, 
against which work the spikes of a drum, dashing 
the rags about at great speed. Human lives 
are often freed of their baser elements and 
restored to purity and beauty through the chas- 
tening influences of tribulation or adversity ; in 
like manner the " whipper " carries the rags for- 
ward a step in the process of purification that is 
necessary before they can be brought to their 



60 The Story of Paper-Making 

highest usefulness. But the cleansing process, 
which is only a preparation for what is to follow, 
does not end with the "whipper," the latter 
having served merely to loosen, not to dislodge, 
a great deal of dust and dirt. The final opera- 
tion in the preliminary cleaning is performed by 

The duster the " duster " proper, which is a conical revolv- 
ing sieve. As the mass of rags is tossed and 
shaken about the loosened dust is carried away 
by the suction of the air, which draws the dust 
particles into tubes furnished with suction fans. 
In most modern mills the rags are carried forward 
from the " duster " on an endless belt, and a 
careful watch is kept upon them as they emerge 
to detect the presence of unchopped pieces, but- 
tons, or other foreign substances. The journey 
of the rags over this endless belt or conveyor 
terminates in a receiving-room, in the floor of 
which there are several openings, and immediately 

The digester below these the mouths of the "digesters," 
which are in a room beneath. The " digesters," 
as they are suggestively and appropriately termed, 
are huge revolving boilers, usually upright, which 
often have as great a diameter as eight feet, with 
a height of twenty-two feet, and whose digestive 
capacity is upward of five tons of rags each. 



Modern Paper-Making 61 

The rags that are to be "cooked" are fed into 
the " digesters " through the openings in the 
floor, and the great movable manhole plates are 
then put in place and closed, hermetically sealing 
the openings or mouths through which the 
boilers have been fed, these having first been 
charged with a mixed solution of lime and soda, Cooking of 
and with live hot steam in lieu of gastric juice ra S $ 
as a digesting fluid and force. In some mills 
the boilers are placed in a horizontal position, 
while in others they are in the form of a large 
ball or globe, in either case being operated in the 
manner described; those of upright form, how- 
ever, are most commonly in use. The rags are 
boiled under steam pressure of about forty pounds 
to the square inch, and the cooking is continued 
from twelve to fourteen hours. 

It is here that the process of cleaning begins 
in earnest ; and as the mass of rags is tumbled 
about in its scalding bath of steam-heated lime- 
water, or " milk of lime," the coloring and gluti- 
nous matters, as well as all other impurities, are 
loosened from the fibers, which are in the end so 
cleansed and purified as to come forth unstained 
and of virgin purity. Having been sufficiently 
boiled and digested, the mushy material, still look- 



washers or 
Hollanders 



61 The Story of Paper-Making 

ing dark and forbidding, is emptied onto the floor 
below or into receptacles placed directly beneath 
the boilers, where the color and dirt are allowed 
to drain off. The mass is then conveyed to the 
" washers," great tub-like receptacles, which are 
shown among the illustrations, and which are 
The known as " Hollanders," from the fact that these 

rag engines were invented in Holland, about the 
year 1750 a. d. They are oval-shaped tubs, about 
twenty feet long, nine feet wide, and three feet 
high, varying somewhat according to the condi- 
tions. Each tub is divided for two-thirds of its 
length by an upright partition, or " mid-feather," 
as it is called, which makes a narrow course 
around the vat. On one side of the partition 
the tub is raised in a half-circle, close to which 
revolves an iron roll about three or four feet in 
diameter, and covered with knives ; in the bottom 
of the tub, and directly under the revolving roll, 
is another set of knives called a " bed-plate," 
which is stationary, and against which the roll can 
be lowered. But not to anticipate. When the 
emptyings from the boiler have been thrown into 
the " washer " a continuous stream of water is 
turned in at one end, the knife-roll having been 
adjusted so as to open up the rags as they are set 




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Modern Paper-Making 63 

in motion. These then begin a lively chase 
around the edge of the vat, through the race- 
course formed by the " mid-feather," and under 
the rag-opening knives, where the water is given 
a chance to wash out all impurities ; then on up 
the incline over the " back fall," so-called from 
the elevation in the tub. A cylinder of wire- 
cloth, partly immersed in the moving mass, holds 
back the now rapidly whitening fibers, while the 
dirty water escapes into buckets inside the wire- 
cloth drum, and is discharged into and through 
an escape-spout. The heavy particles of dirt 
settle into what is termed a " sand-trap " at the 
bottom of the tub. 

As the water clears, the roll is lowered closer 
and closer to the bottom of the bed-plate, in 
order to open up the fibers more thoroughly for 
the free circulation of the water among them. 
When the several agencies of the "washer" have 
accomplished their purpose, and the water runs 
clear and unsullied, a bleaching material is put Bleaching 
into the mass, which in the course of from two materia l 
to six hours becomes as white as milk. The 
dirty offscourings of all ragdom, first seen in the 
original bales, and gathered from the four quarters 
of the globe, have endured many buffetings, 



64 The Story of Paper-Making 

many bruisings and tribulations, and having been 
washed come forth pure, sweet, and clean. From 
the washers the rags are precipitated through a 
trap into drainers, which are chambers made of 
stone and brick, with a false bottom, through 
which the water is allowed to drain. This rag 
pulp, now called half stock, is kept in this re- 
ceptacle until the water and liquor are thoroughly 
drained off, when it becomes a white and com- 
pact mass of fibers. 
The The rags should stand in the drainers for at 

drainers l eas t one week, though better results are obtained 
if they are left for a period two or three times 
as long, as the fibers become more subdued. 
The process of paper-making, as it has already 
been described, applies more particularly to 
papers made from rags. To-day a very large 
proportion of the cheaper papers are made from 
wood, either entirely or in part, and these wood- 
made papers are subjected to a different treat- 
ment, to which further reference will be made in 
this chapter. 

From the drainer the mass is carted to the 

The beating engine, or " beater," which is very similar 

beaters j n cons truction to the washer just described. The 

knives on the roll in the beater are grouped three 



Modern Paper-Making 6$ 

together instead of two, and are placed nearer 
the bottom or bed-plate in order to separate more 
thoroughly the fibers. In the beater are per- 
formed many and varying manipulations, designed 
not only to secure a more perfect product, but 
also to produce different varieties of paper. It is 
the theory of the beating process that the fibers 
are not cut, but are drawn out to their utmost 
extent. In watching the operations of the 
" beater," one notices on the surface of the slowly 
revolving mass of fibers, floating bluing, such as 
the thrifty housewife uses to whiten fine fabrics. 
This familiar agency of the laundry is introduced 
into the solution of fibers with the same end in 
view that is sought in the washtub — to give the 
clear white color that is so desirable. Many of 
the inventions and discoveries by which the world 
has profited largely have been due primarily to 
some fortunate accident, and according to a pretty 
story upon which paper-makers have set the seal 
of their belief for more than one hundred and 
fifty years, the use of bluing was brought about 
in the same way. About the year 1 746, so runs The bluing 
the story, a Mrs. Buttonshaw, the wife of an stor y 
English paper-maker, accidentally dropped into a 
tub of pulp the bag of bluing, or its contents, 



66 The Story of Paper-Making 

which she was about to use in a washing of fine 
linen. Frightened at what she had done, and 
considering it the part of wisdom to keep silence, 
she discreetly held her peace and awaited results. 
But when her husband had expressed great won- 
der and admiration over the paper made from 
that particular pulp, and had sold it in London 
at an advance of several shillings over the price 
of his other paper, which had not met with any 
such accident, she realized that the time for 
silence had passed. Her account of the happy 
accident led her grateful husband to purchase a 
costly scarlet cloak for her on his next visit to 
London town. This accident brought about 
another result which was to prove of inestimable 
value to the future paper-maker — the use of 
bluing in paper when especial whiteness is 
desired. 

Important as the bluing or coloring is, how- 
ever, it is only one of the numerous operations or 
manipulations that take place in the beater. Many 
Engine- of these, such as engine-sizing and body-coloring, 
sizing require skill and constant watchfulness. Here, 
too, if anywhere, adulteration takes place. It is 
sometimes necessary to secure a fine-appearing 
paper at small cost, and it is profitable to add to 



Modern Paper-Making 67 

its weight. In such cases, a process of " loading " 
takes place here, and clay or cheap, heavy fibers 
are added. Clay is of value not only to increase 
the weight, but also to render the paper more 
opaque, so as to prevent type or illustrations from 
showing through, while at the same time it makes 
possible a smoother surface by filling the pores 
in the paper. But while it adds to the weight, 
clay must, of necessity, weaken the paper. In 
engine-sizing, which is done in the beater, the 
size is thoroughly incorporated with the fibers as 
these revolve or flow around the engine. This 
sizing renders the paper more nearly impervious 
to moisture. The difference between a paper that 
is sized, and that has a repellent surface which 
prevents the ink from settling into it when it is 
written upon, and an ordinary blotting-paper with 
its absorbent surface, is due entirely to the fact 
that the former is most carefully treated with 
sizing, both in the beating engine and in the size 
tub or vat referred to later, whereas in the latter 
paper it is omitted. If the paper is to be tinted 
or body-colored, colors made from aniline are Body- 
generally used. Only in the highest grade of coloring 
writing-paper, and in some few papers that demand 
colors fast to the light, is any other order of col- 



68 The Story of Paper-Making 

oring matter employed. As may be easily im- 
agined, considerable skill is required to secure 
exactly the desired tint, and to get the coloring 
matter so evenly mixed that each small fiber shall 
receive its proper tint, thus insuring that the 
paper when finished shall be of uniform color 
and not present a mottled appearance. 

When the operations of the beating engine 
have been completed, a most interesting process 
begins, which marks a vast advance over the 
earlier method of forming the sheets of paper 
with mold and deckel, straining off the water, and 
shaking the frame with a quick motion to mat the 
fibers together. The patient striving toward 
something better, which has marked all the cen- 
turies since man first learned to carve his rude 
Machine for records, finds its consummation in the process of 
making con- ma ki n g paper in a continuous web. This result is 
accomplished by a machine first invented by Louis 
Robert, a workman in a mill at Enonnes, France, 
who obtained a French patent, with a bounty of 
eight thousand francs for its development. This he 
later sold to M. Didot, the proprietor of the mill, 
and the latter crossed the Channel into England, 
where, with the aid of a skilled mechanic, the ma- 
chine was in a measure perfected, and then sold 



Modern Paper-Making 69 

to Henry and Sealy Fourdrinier. They, with the 
further aid of Bryan Donkin, their employe and 
expert engineer, made many additional improve- 
ments, and sunk in the enterprise some sixty 
thousand pounds sterling, for which their only 
reward was blighted hopes and embittered lives. 
In 1847 tne London "Times" made a fruitless 
appeal on behalf of the surviving brother, who 
was eighty years of age, and in great poverty. It 
is seldom that the world voluntarily makes return 
to those who have bestowed upon it great material 
or moral benefits, though it is ever ready to ex- 
pend its treasure for engines of destruction, and 
to magnify and reward those who have been most 
successful in destroying human life. 

The first " machine " mill was started at Frog- 
more, Hertz, England, in 1803, which was the First 
year of the great Louisiana Purchase by the mac hine 
United States, and it is not difficult to say which 
event has been productive of the greater and 
more beneficial results to this nation. Through 
this invention and its improvements the modern 
newspaper and magazine, with their tens and 
hundreds of thousands of copies daily, have been 
made possible, and men of all classes have been 
brought in touch with the best thought of the 



70 The Story of Paper-Making 

day. Whatever makes for greater intelligence 
and enlightenment throughout a nation makes for 
the greater stability of the national life, and gives 
new emphasis to Bulwer's words : 

" Take away the sword ; 
States can be saved without it — bring the pen." 

If to-day the power of the pen over the sword is 
greater than it has ever been before, its increased 
The power an d increasing influence must be credited in large 
of the pen measure to the inventive genius and the public- 
spirited enterprise that has made possible the great 
output of our modern paper-mills. So thoroughly 
did these forces do their work in the beginning, 
that in the century that has elapsed since the 
Fourdrinier brothers sacrificed themselves and 
their means in the perfecting of their machine, 
there have been really no changes in the funda- 
mental principle. Those that have been made 
have been in the nature of further development 
and improvement, such as increasing the speed 
and widening the web, thereby multiplying the 
product many fold. 

But to resume the interesting journey of the 
rags, which had reached a state of purification and 
perfection as pulp, and which we left in the 




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Modern Paper-Making 71 

beaters. In some grades of paper the perfected 
and prepared pulp is taken from the beaters and 
passed through what is known as a "refining" or 
" Jordan " engine ; this for the purpose of more The Jordan 
thoroughly separating the fibers and reducing en S tne 
them to extreme fineness. The refining engines, 
are, however, used only in the manufacture of 
certain grades of paper. The pulp is next 
taken from the beater or refining engine, as the 
case may be, to what is called a "stuff-chest," 
an inclosed vat partly filled with water, in which The stuff 
a contrivance for shaking and shifting, properly c " est 
called an "agitator," keeps the fibers in sus- 
pension. 

From the stuff-chest the mixture is pumped 
into what is known as the "mixing" or "regu- 
lating" box. Here the stream first passes over 
the "sand-tables" in a continuous flow. These 
are composed of little troughs with cross-pieces, 
and are covered at the bottom with long-haired 
felt, to catch any sand or dirt that may still ad- 
here after the numerous operations to which the 
pulp has been subjected. The flow is then forced 
through the " screen," which is a horizontal piece The screen 
of metal pierced with slots. For very fine paper, 
these slots are so small as to be only one one- 



72 The Story of Paper-Making 

hundredth of an inch in width. They are usually 
about a quarter of an inch apart. Through these 
tiny apertures the fibers must find their way, leav- 
ing behind in their difficult passage all lumps, dirt, 
or knotted fibers which would mar the perfection 
of the product toward which they are tending. 
A vibrating motion is given to the screen as the 
flow passes over it, or revolving strainers may be 
used. 

When the screen has finished its work, the 
water carrying the pulp in solution flows in an 
even stream, whose volume varies according to 
The flow the width of the web of paper to be produced, 
onto through a discharge-cock onto the Fourdrinier or 

cylinder machine, as the case may be, each of 
which will be duly described. This stream has a 
filmy appearance, and is of diverse color, depend- 
ing upon the shade of paper to be produced. 
From its consistency, which is about that of milk, 
it is difficult to imagine that it floats separate 
particles of fiber in such quantities as, when 
gathered on the wire cloth and passed to a felt 
blanket and then pressed between rollers, to form 
in a second of time a broad web of embryo paper 
sufficiently strong and firm to take definite form. 
Man's mastery of the process by which this 



Modern Paper-Making 73 

startling and wonderful change is effected has 
come as one of the rewards of his long and patient 
study. 

The Fourdrinier machine, which preserves at 
least the name of the enterprising developers of 
the invention, takes up the work that was for- 
merly done by the molder. The wire cloth upon 
which the fibers are discharged as described is an 
endless belt, the full width of the paper machine. 
Upon this the fibers spread out evenly, being 
aided by a fan-shaped rubber or oil cloth, which 
delivers the smooth stream under a gate regulated 
to insure perfect evenness and to fix uniformly the 
fibers of the web now commencing its final forma- Deckel- 
tion. Deckel-straps of india-rubber are fastened s ra * s 
on both sides of the wire screen, and move with 
it, thus holding the watery pulp in place. The 
deckel-straps are adjustable, and fix or regulate 
the width of the paper. These and the gate, or 
" sheer," are attached to what is termed the deckel- 
frame, which corresponds to the deckel used by 
paper-makers in the days when the manufacture 

was carried on by hand. As the stream flows . , ,, 

J t wire cloth 

onto the endless belt of wire cloth, the water 
which has borne the fibers filters into the trough 
beneath. Being charged with very fine fibers, 



74 The Story of Paper-Making 

size, coloring matter, and other similar ingredients, 
it is carried back into the pulp-chest, to save these 
materials, as well as to contribute again to the 
extra supply of water needed. For this reason 
the trough into which it falls from the revolving 
The " wire " is called the " save-all." A shaking 

save-all mo tion is imparted to the " wire " from the frame 
upon which rest the rolls that keep it in its never- 
ending round. This aids in draining away the 
water, and mats or interlaces the fibers together. 
At the end of the " save-all," where the fibers are 
to leave the " wire " for the next stage of their 
journey, suction-boxes are placed, provided with 
an air-pump to take up the surplus water that has 
not yet found its way through the meshes. Be- 
tween these suction-boxes above the wire is a wire- 
covered roll, which impresses the newly formed 
The sheet ; this impression cylinder is called a " dandy 

dandy roll YO \\" an d it is from this that the web receives the 
markings or impressions that characterize different 
papers. All watermarks, patterns, and designs 
which it is desired to have appear in the paper are 
put upon this roll, and here impressed upon the 
soft sheet, which is clarified and left transparent 
at the points of contact. Thus the impression is 
permanently fixed in the fiber, so that it can be 



Modern Paper-Making 75 

seen at any time by holding the sheet to the light. 
The power of suggestiveness is a quality which is 
highly esteemed wherever it is found, and which 
frequently furnishes a standard of judgment. 
Judged by such a criterion, the impression cylin- 
der, or " dandy roll," has an added value, for in 
all probability its operation suggested the idea of 
printing from cylinders, as in our present web or 
perfecting presses. 

The matted pulp, now having sufficient body, 
passes on between two rolls covered with felt, 
which deliver the web of damp paper upon an 
endless belt of moist felt, while the " wire " 
passes under and back to continue a fresh sup- 
ply. The paper is as yet too fragile to travel 
alone, and the web felt carries it between two 
metal rolls called the first press-rolls. These The 
squeeze out more water, give a greater degree of press-rolls 
compactness to the fibers, smooth the upper sur- 
face, and finally deliver the web of paper to a 
second felt apron, which carries it under and to 
the back of the second press-rolls. In this way 
the under surface comes to the top, and is in its 
turn subjected to the smoothing process. A 
delicate scraper or blade, the length of the press- 
rolls, is so placed on each roll that should the 



y6 The Story of Paper-Making 

endless web from any cause be broken, the blade 
may operate with sufficient force to prevent the 
wet paper from clinging to the rolls and winding 
about them. From this point the paper travels 
alone, having become firm and strong enough to 
sustain its own weight ; passing above the second 
press-rolls, it resumes its onward journey around 
the drying cylinders, passing over and under and 
over and under. The drying cylinders are hollow 
and heated by steam, their temperature being regu- 
The dryers lated according to requirements. These driers, made 
from iron or steel, are usually from three to four 
feet in diameter, and vary in length according to 
the width of the machine. There are from twelve 
to fifty of these cylinders, their number depending 
upon the character and weight of the paper to be 
produced, very heavy sheets requiring many more 
drying cylinders than sheets of lighter weight. 

Strange, almost phenomenal, conditions come 
about in the transformation from filmy pulp to 
finished paper. A sheet which, though formed, 
is at the first press-roll too fragile to carry its own 
weight, becomes possessed of a final strength and 
power that is almost incredible. The myriad of 
minute fibers composing the sheet, upon drying 
uniformly, possesses great aggregate strength. A 



Modern Paper-Making 77 

sheet of paper yields readily to tearing, but the same 
sheet, when a perfectly even tension is applied, 
will demonstrate that it is possessed of wonderful Tensile 
resisting power. In evidence may be cited an in- stren i 
stance that seems almost beyond belief. Through 
some curious mishap a web of heavy paper, 
in fact, bristol board, which had been thoroughly 
formed, was suddenly superheated and then 
cooled while still on the driers. This was caused 
by a difference in temperature of the driers and 
resulted in the sudden contraction of the web of 
bristol ; the strain on the machine was so great 
that not only were the driving-cogs broken on 
two of the driers around which the paper was at 
the moment passing, but the driers themselves 
were actually lifted out of place, showing a resist- 
ing power in the paper of at least several tons. 
The paper now passes to the upright stack of rolls 
shown in the illustrations, which are known as 
" calenders." The word is derived from calendra ; The 
a corruption of cylindrus, a roller or cylinder, calenders 
they are simply rollers revolving in contact, 
and heated from the interior by steam. These 
calenders are used for giving to the paper a 
smooth and even surface, and are also employed 
in the smoothing and finishing of cloth. The 



78 The Story of Paper-Making 

speed with which the paper passes through these 
cylinders is remarkable, from one hundred to 
five hundred feet running through and over the 
machine in a minute ; and in some of the most 
recent mills the web is as wide as one hundred 
and fifty-six inches (thirteen feet) ; this is very 
nearly double the average machine width of a 
few years ago, while the speed has increased in 
proportionate ratio ; only a very few years ago the 
Speed of maximum speed was from two hundred and fifty 
machines to three hundred feet per minute ; at this writing 
(1900) there are machines in operation which run 
as high as five hundred feet per minute. But 
great as has been the increase in the production 
of paper, the demand has kept pace steadily. 
The wonderful product of the rag-bag holds an 
invincible position in the world's economy. 

For machine-finished book and print papers, 
as well as for other cheaper grades, the process 
ends with the calenders, after which the paper is 
slit into required widths by disk-knives, which 
are revolving, and so cut continuously. Paper 
intended for web newspaper presses is taken off 
in continuous rolls of the widths required, vary- 
ing from seventeen to seventy-six inches, according 
to the size of the paper to be printed. These 




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Modern Paper-Making 79 

reels contain from fifteen to twenty-five thousand 
lineal feet of paper, or from three to five miles. Five miles 
The amount of paper used in disseminating the tn a 
news of the day is enormous ; sometimes one or 
two mills are required to manufacture the supply 
for a single metropolitan daily, while one New 
York newspaper claims to have used four hundred 
and fifty tons of paper in one Christmas edition, 
which is about four times the amount of its regu- 
lar daily consumption. 

After having been slit into the proper widths 
by the revolving knives, ordinary flat and book 
papers are cut into sheets by a straight knife 
revolving at proper intervals on a horizontal 
drum. The paper, in sheets, is carried by a trav- 
eling apron onto a receiving table at the end of 
the machine, where the sheets as they fall are 
carefully examined by experts, usually women, 
who remove any that may be imperfect. 

The entire length of a paper machine, from 
the screens to the calenders, is about one hundred 
and twenty-five feet, while the height varies, the The 
average being about ten feet. The machines, while immemit J 
necessarily of the finest adjustment, are ponder- * » ■ ern 
ous and heavy, weighing in some cases as much 
as four hundred tons, this being the weight of the 



80 The Story of Paper-Making 

machine itself, exclusive of its foundations. The 
machine-room is of necessity well lighted and 
thoroughly ventilated, and should be kept clean 
throughout, as cleanliness is an essential factor in 
the making of good paper. 

While the same general process applies to all 
classes of paper made, the particular character of 
any paper that is to be produced determines ex- 
actly the details of the process through which it 
shall pass, and regulates the deviations to be made 
from the general operations in order to secure 
special results. For example, some papers are 
wanted with a rough or " antique " finish, as it is 
called ; in such cases calendering is omitted. 
Deckel Another special process is that by which the paper 
edging Is made with a ragged or " deckel edge "; this 
result is obtained in some mills by playing a 
stream of water upon the edge of the pulp, crush- 
ing and thinning it, and thus giving it a jagged 
appearance. At the present time this " deckel- 
edge " paper is being quite extensively used in 
high-class bookwork. 

In the case of writing-papers, as has already 
been stated in the description of the beating 
engines, a vegetable sizing made from resinous 
matter is introduced into the paper pulp while it 



Modern Paper-Making 81 

is still in solution, and mixes with it thoroughly, 
thus filling more or less completely the pores of 
the pulp fibers. This is found sufficient for all 
ordinary book-papers, for papers that are to be 
printed upon in the usual way, and for the cheap- 
est grades of writing-paper, where the require 
ments are not very exacting, and where a curtail- 
ment of expense is necessary. For the higher 
grades of writing-paper, however, a distinctly 
separate and additional process is required. These 
papers while on the machine in web form are 
passed through a vat which is called the size-tub, 
and which is filled with a liquid sizing made of 
gelatine from clippings of the horns, hides, and Tub 
hoofs of cattle, this gelatine or glue being mixed slzin i 
with dissolved alum and made fluid in the vat. 
Papers which are treated in this way are known 
as "animal," or "tub-sized." 

We have duly described machine-dried papers, 
but these higher grades of writing-papers are 
dried by what is known as loft, or pole-dried Loft 
process. Such paper is permitted to dry very " r y in g 
slowly in a loft specially constructed for the pur- 
pose, where it is hung on poles several days, 
during which time the loft is kept at a temper- 
ature of about ioo° Fahrenheit. 



82 The Story of Paper-Making 

Another detail of considerable importance is 
that of the " finish '" or surface of the paper. 
When paper with a particularly high or glossy 
surface is desired it is subjected to a separate 
process after leaving the paper machine, known as 
supercalendering. 
Super- " Supercalendering" is effected by passing the 

calendering we ^ tnroU gh t h e stack of rolls shown in the illus- 
tration, which are similar to the machine calenders 
already described. These rolls are composed 
of metal cylinders, alternating with rolls made of 
solidified paper or cotton, turned exactly true, the 
top and bottom rolls being of metal and heavier 
than the others ; a stack of supercalenders is 
necessarily composed of an odd number of rolls, 
as seven, nine, or eleven. The paper passes and 
repasses through these calenders until the requisite 
degree of smoothness and polish has been acquired. 
The friction in this machine produces so much 
Electricity electricity that ground wires are often used to 
in paper carry it off, in order that the paper may not be- 
come so highly charged as to attract dust or cause 
the sheets to cling together. When the fine pol- 
ish has been imparted, the rolls of paper go to 
the cutting machines, which are automatic in 
action, cutting regular sheets of the required 



Modern Paper-Making 83 

length as the paper is fed to them in a con- 
tinuous web. In the manufacture of some high 
grades of paper, such as linens and bonds, where 
an especially fine, smooth surface is required, the 
sheets after being cut are arranged in piles of 
from twelve to fifteen sheets, plates of zinc are 
inserted alternately between them, and they are 
subjected to powerful hydraulic pressure. This 
process is termed " plating," and is, of course, Plating 
very much more expensive than the process of 
supercalendering described above. 

From the cutters, the sheets are carried to the 
inspectors, who are seated in a row along an ex- 
tended board table, before two divisions with 
partitions ten or twelve inches high, affording 
spaces for the sheets before and after sorting. 
The work of inspection is performed by women, Sorting 
who detect almost instantly any blemish or im- 
perfection in the finished product as it passes 
through their hands. If the paper is to be ruled 
for writing purposes, it is then taken to the 
ruling machines, where it is passed under revolv- 
ing disks or pens, set at regular intervals. 
These convey the ruling ink to the paper as it 
passes on through the machine, and thus form 
true and continuous lines. If the paper is to 



84 The Story of Paper-Making 

be folded after ruling, as in the case of fine 
note-papers, the sheets pass on from the rul- 
Ruling and ing machine to the folding machines, which are 
jolding entirely automatic in their action. The paper is 
stacked at the back of the first folding guide, and 
is fed in by the action of small rubber rollers, 
which loosen each sheet from the one beneath, 
and push it forward until it is caught by the fold- 
ing apparatus. Man's mechanical ingenuity has 
given to the machines of his invention something 
that seems almost like human intelligence, and in 
the case of the folding machine, the action is so 
regular and perfect that there seems to be no 
need of an attendant, save to furnish a constant 
supply of sheets. The folding completed, cut- 
ting machines are again brought into requisition, 
to cut and trim the sheets to the size of folded 
note or letter paper, which is the final operation 
before they are sent out into the world on their 
mission of usefulness. The finished paper may 
or may not have passed through the ruling and 
folding process, but in either case it goes from 
the cutters to the wrappers and packers, and then 
to the shipping-clerks, all of whom perform the 
duties indicated by their names. The wonderful 
transformation wrought by the magic wand of 



Modern Paper-Making 85 

science and human invention is complete, and 
what came into the factory as great bales of 
offensive rags, disgusting to sight and smell, goes 
forth as delicate, beautiful, perfected paper, re- 
deemed from filth, and glorified into a high and 
noble use. Purity and beauty have come from Beauty of 
what was foul and unwholesome ; the highly perfected 
useful has been summoned fouth from the seem- r a P er 
ingly useless; a product that.i^o'he of the essen- 
tial factors in the world's progress, and that 
promises to serve an -ever-increasing purpose, has 
been developed from a material that apparently 
held not the slightest promise. Well might the 
" Boston News Letter" of 1769 exclaim in quaint 
old rhyme : 

" Rags are as beauties which concealed lie, 
But when in paper, charming to the eye ! 
Pray save your rags, new beauties to discover, 
For of paper truly every one's a lover; 
By the pen and press such knowledge is displayed 
As would not exist if paper was not made." 

And well may man pride himself on this achieve- 
ment, this marvelous transformation, which rep- 
resents the fruitage of centuries of striving and 
endeavor ! 

Up to this point the reference has been almost 



86 The Story of Paper- Making 

entirely to paper made from rags, but radical im- 
provements have been made, caused by the intro- 
Wood pulp duction of wood pulp, and these are of such 
importance that the account would not be com- 
plete without some mention of them. These 
changes are mainly in the methods of manipulat- 
ing the wood to obtain the pulp, for when that is 
ready, the process, from and including the " wash- 
ers " and " beaters," is very similar to that already 
described. All papers, whether made from rags 
or wood, depend upon vegetable fiber for their sub- 
stance and fundamental base, and it is found that 
the different fibers used in paper-making, when 
finally subdued, do not differ, in fact, whether ob- 
tained from rags or from the tree growing in the 
forest. In the latter case the raw wood is subjected 
to chemical treatment which destroys all resinous 
and foreign matters, leaving merely the cellular 
tissue, which, it is found, does not differ in sub- 
stance from the cell tissue obtained after treating 
rags. In either case, this cellular tissue, through 
the treatment to which the raw material is subjected, 
becomes perfectly plastic or moldable, and while 
the paper made from one differs slightly in certain 
characteristics from the paper made from the other, 
they are nevertheless very similar, and it might be 




BLOWPIPES COOLING CALENDER ROLLS 



Modern Paper-Making 87 

safe to predict that further perfecting of processes 
will eventually make them practically alike. 

The woods used for this purpose are princi- 
pally poplar and spruce, and there are three 
classes of the wood pulp: (1) mechanical wood, 
(2) soda process wood, and (3) sulphite wood 
pulp. The first method was invented in Germany Mechanical 
in 1 844. The logs are hewn in the forest, roughly wo °" 
barked, and shipped to the factory, where the first 
operation is to cut them up by steam saws into 
blocks about two feet in length. Any bark that 
may still cling to the log is removed by a rapidly 
revolving corrugated wheel of steel, while the 
larger blocks are split by a steam splitter. The 
next stage of their journey takes these blocks to a 
great millstone, set perpendicularly instead of 
horizontally. Here a very strong and ingenious 
machine receives one block at a time, and with an 
automatically elastic pressure holds it sidewise 
against the millstone, which, like the mills of the 
gods, "grinds exceeding fine," and with the aid 
of constantly flowing water rapidly reduces these 
blocks to a pulpy form. This pulp is carried 
into tanks, from which it is passed between rollers, 
which leave it in thick, damp sheets, which are 
folded up evenly for shipment, or for storage for 



88 The Story of Paper-Making 

future use. If a paper-mill is operated in con- 
nection with the pulp-mill, the wood pulp is not 
necessarily rolled out in sheets, but is pumped 
directly from the tanks to the beaters. 

In the preparation of pulp by the other pro- 
cesses, the blocks are first thrown into a chipping 
machine with great wheels, whose short, slanting 
knives quickly cut the blocks into small chips. 
The soda In the soda process, invented by M. Meliner 
process - m p rance m 1865, the chips from spruce and 
poplar logs are boiled under pressure in a strong 
solution of caustic soda. 

When sulphite wood pulp is to be prepared, 
the chips are conveyed from the chipper into 
hoppers in the upper part of the building. Here 
they are thrown into great upright iron boilers or 
digesters charged with lime-water and fed with the 
fumes of sulphur, which is burned for the purpose 
in a furnace adjoining the building, and which 
The thus forms acid sulphide of lime. The sulphite 

sulphite process was originally invented by a celebrated 
p Philadelphia chemist, but was perfected in Europe. 

The "cooking," or boiling, to which the wood 
is subjected in both the soda and sulphite pro- 
cesses, effects a complete separation of all resinous 
and foreign substances from the fine and true cell 



Modern Paper-Making 89 

tissue, or cellulose, which is left a pure fiber, ready 
for use as described. In the case of all fibers, 
whether rag or wood, painstaking work counts, 
and the excellence of the paper is largely dependent 
upon the time and care given to the reduction of 
the pulp from the original raw material. 

Chemical wood pulp of the best quality makes 
an excellent product, and is largely used for both 
print and book paper; it is frequently mixed with 
rag pulp, making a paper that can scarcely be 
distinguished from that made entirely from fine 
rags, though it is not of the proper firmness for 
the best flat or writing papers. All ordinary 
newspapers, as well as some of the cheaper grades 
of book and wrapping paper, are made entirely 
from wood, the sulphite or soda process supply- 
ing the fiber and ground wood being used as a 
filler. In the average newspaper of to-day's issue, Components 
twenty-five per cent of sulphite fiber is sufficient °f P rtnt 
to carry seventy-five per cent of the ground wood ^ ^ 
filler. The value of the idea is an economical 
one entirely, as the ground wood employed costs 
less than any other of the component parts of a 
print-paper sheet. 

The cylinder machine, to which reference was 
made earlier in the chapter, was patented in 1809 



90 The Story of Paper-Making 

by a prominent paper-maker of England, Mr. 
John Dickinson. In this machine, a cylinder 
covered with wire cloth revolves with its lower 
portion dipping into a vat of pulp, while by suc- 
tion a partial vacuum is maintained in the cylin- 
der, causing the pulp to cling to the wire until it 
is conveyed to a covered cylinder, which takes it 
up and carries it forward in a manner similar to 
the system already described. This machine is 
employed in making strawboard and other heavy 
and cheap grades of paper. 

Generous Mother Nature, who supplies man's 
wants in such bountiful fashion, has furnished on 
her plains and in her forests an abundance of 
material that may be transformed into this fine 
product of human ingenuity. Esparto, a Spanish 
Esparto grass grown in South Africa, has entered largely 
into the making of print-paper in England. 
Mixed with rags it makes an excellent product, 
but the chemicals required to free it from resin 
and gritty silica are expensive, while the cost of 
importation has rendered its use in America im- 
practical. Flax, hemp, manila, jute and straw, 
and of course old paper that has been once used, 
are extensively employed in this manufacture, the 
process beginning with the chemical treatment and 



Modern Paper-Making 91 

boiling that are found necessary in the manipula- 
tion of rags. The successful use of these materials 
has met demands that would not otherwise have 
been supplied. As a result, the price has been so 
cheapened that the demand for paper has greatly 
increased, and its use has been extended to many 
and various purposes, which are mentioned in the 
following chapter, in an enumeration of the vari- 
ous kinds of paper. 

Many additional items of interest might be 
described in connection with the methods of 
manufacturing paper, but as this work is intended 
for the general reader, rather than for the manu- 
facturer, those wishing further information are 
referred to technical works on the subject. 

The best linen rags are used for the highest 
grades of writing and bond papers, while ordinary 
note, letter, and flat papers are made from cotton 
rags. In some mills, such as the government 
mill at Dalton, Massachusetts, where government 
paper is made for bank-notes, and in others where Government 
the finest ledger papers are manufactured, none <> an k-note 
but new, clean linen rags are used. These come 
from the remnants left in the making of linen 
goods. In the government mill where is made 
the paper for our national currency, or "green- 



92 The Story of Paper-Making 

backs," there is a special attachment on the 
machine for introducing into the paper the silk 
threads that are always to be seen in our paper 
money. This attachment is just above the 
"wire" on the machine, and consists of a little 
conducting trough, through which flows, from a 
receptacle near the machine, a stream of water 
holding the silk threads in solution. The trough 
extends across the machine, and is provided at 
intervals with openings, through which the short 
pieces of silk thread are automatically released, and 
sprinkled continuously onto the web of pulp as it 
To prevent passes beneath. The paper is thus distinguished, 
counterfeit- an( j infringement and possible counterfeiting are 
made extremely difficult by the fact that the 
government absolutely forbids the making of 
paper by others under a similar process, as well 
as the production of any paper containing these 
silk threads. The laws of the United States per- 
taining to anything that borders on infringement 
of our various money issues, both metal and cur- 
rency, are most rigid ; anything approaching a 
similarity of impression is prohibited, and a cut, 
stamp, or impression of any character that ap- 
proaches in its appearance any money issue of our 
government is considered a violation of the law 



Modern Paper-Making 93 

against counterfeiting, and is dealt with severely. 
The government takes the same uncompromising 
position in regard to the fabrics used in printing 
its paper-money issues, and it will be quickly seen 
that the silk thread process above described is so 
great a variation from anything required in the 
mercantile world that it would be difficult to pro- 
dude a paper at all similar without an ulterior 
purpose being at once apparent. For this reason, 
the silk thread interspersion is in reality a very 
effective medium in preventing counterfeiting, not 
only on account of its peculiar appearance, but 
also because of the elaborate methods necessary in 
its production. 

In those mills making the finest grades of 
paper, much of the process of thrashing, beating, 
dusting, and cleaning necessary in the ordinary 
mill is omitted. The cleanliness and brightness 
which are reached only at the "washer" and 
"beater" engines in the process of manufacturing 
the lower grades of paper from cheaper rags, pre- 
vail at every step in these higher grade mills. 

One of the first requisites in making good Pure water 
paper, especially the better grades, is an abundance necessary 
of pure water, and spring-water, where available, 
is preferred. 



94 The Story of Paper-Making 

The effort has been made in the description 
given to cover the process of making paper from 
the crudest rags. In enumerating the several 
kinds of paper, in another chapter, brief reference 
will be made to the varying methods required in 
their manufacture. In this chapter, no attempt 
has been made to cover more than the principal 
divisions or varieties of paper — writing, print, 
and wrapping papers. 

The United States, with characteristic enter- 
The center prise, leads the world in paper-making, supplying 
of the about one-third of all that is used on the globe. 

The city of Holyoke, in Massachusetts, is the 
greatest paper center in the world, turning out 
each working-day some two hundred tons of 
paper, nearly one-half of which is " tub-sized," 
" loft-dried " writings. The region in the vicinity 
of Holyoke is dotted with paper-mills, and within 
a few miles of the city is made about one-half of 
all the "loft-dried" writings produced in the 
United States. The tiny acorn planted two cen- 
turies ago has waxed with the years, gaining 
strength and vigor with the increasing strength of 
the nation, till now it has become a giant oak, 
whose branches extend to the lands beyond the 
seas. 




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CHAPTER VI 

WATER-MARKS AND VARIETIES OF PAPER 

Though the water-mark in a sheet of paper 
may at first thought seem a comparatively unim- 
portant detail, the story of water-marks and the 
part they have played in momentous transactions Importance 
would easily furnish material for a volume. Es- ofwater- 
pecially is this true of the early water-marks, mar s 
with which there is connected much interesting 
history. They have even become important wit- 
nesses in the courts of justice, where their silent 
but eloquent testimony has brought confusion to 
seemingly clever criminals. The proof of the 
time when a water-mark was introduced has been 
the means of fixing the crime of forgery, where 
the forger, in order to reach the end sought 
through the forged document, dated the same 
back, and unconsciously used a paper bearing a 
water-mark of a later date. As the early water- 
marks have suggested the names of many varie- 
ties of paper, the two subjects are fittingly coupled. 

It is not known exactly how long a history 
the water-mark has ; the first evidence of one, in 

95 



96 The Story of Paper-Making 

the form of a ram's horn, is said to have been 
found in a book of accounts in 1330. Simple 
designs of common objects, such as a pot, urn, or 
jug, were popular forms of the water-mark in 
early days. Mention has already been made of 
Henry VIII. and the curious method he adopted 
of showing his contempt for the Pope, by having 
his paper marked with a hog wearing a miter. 
Then followed the coat-of-arms of the king, 
and when Charles I. was driven from the throne 
Origin of and beheaded, the " fool's cap '" and bells was 
"fool's cap" \ n derision substituted for the royal arms, fol- 
lowed later by the figure of Britannia. Chan- 
ging water-marks in those days meant stirring 
history. " Pot " paper had a tankard for its water- 
mark, and the " fool's cap " gave its name to a 
larger sized paper, which has borne the name to 
the present day. " Post " was the old size made 
for letters, and bore a " post-horn " as its water- 
mark, the name being preserved to-day in the 
United States by " folio-post." " Crown " paper, 
as its name suggests, bore the water-mark of a 
crown. 

In recent years, water-marks have been used 
as a means of designating the manufacturer, 
rather than for the purpose of distinguishing the 



Water-Marks and Varieties of Paper 97 

paper itself. The crane, for instance, appro- 
priately designates the paper made by the Cranes, 
a family whose name has been long and promi- 
nently associated with the industry in this country. 

The many and divers uses to which the paper Paper in 
product can be put have opened up a practically . mechan- 
unlimited field to the originality and genius of 
the paper manufacturer, who has learned to so 
manipulate his raw materials as to permit of the 
finished product's being substituted for iron, lum- 
ber, cloth, etc., and in many cases it better serves 
the desired purpose. 

As has already been stated, paper, considered 
in reference to its general quality and the method 
of manufacture, falls into three main divisions, 
viz., writing, print, and wrapping papers, but 
these divisions give only an inadequate idea of 
the many varieties. The most of these are 
obtained by the varying manipulations of paper 
already complete in one or another of the three 
forms. The various kinds of boards furnish an 
interesting example of one of the most compre- 
hensive classes of paper. Bristol board, so named 
from the place where it was first manufactured, 
cardboard, pressboard, binder's board, trunk- 
board, and the like, all hold very prominent 



98 The Story of Paper-Making 



positions in this, one of the most important of 
industries. The heavier of these boards are 
made by combining as many sheets of paper as 
are necessary to give the desired thickness, and 
then by using paste or applying hydraulic pres- 
sure, consolidating them. The number of sheets 
used is indicated by the word " ply," used as a 
suffix, as two-ply, three-ply, four-ply, and so on. 
Like other articles of the commercial world, 
papers take their names from varying circum- 
stances, and there is a large class whose designa- 
tions have been derived from the materials or 
processes employed in their manufacture, as well 
as from the purposes for which they are to be 
used. 

Coated paper, or paper having an enameled 
surface, is made by applying a mixture of clay 
Coated and glue to ordinary paper. When referred to 
paper \ n connection with coated paper, this ordinary 
paper is called raw stock or body paper. It is 
manufactured in the regular way, but is made 
slack-sized and sent to the coating factory in web 
or roll form, and before it has been calendered. 
The clay used is pure kaolin or china clay, 
formed by the disintegration of feldspathic rock. 
The clay is largely found near Cornwall, England, 



Water-Marks and Varieties of Paper 99 

and the pure white variety, principally used, is 
known as leemore clay, while the finest is called 
blanc fixe. The clay is ground to the fineness 
of fine wheat flour and mixed into solution of 
about the consistency of milk. Its purpose in 
the paper-coating process is to cover the body 
paper, giving it an even surface, susceptible of a 
high and glossy finish. The glue used is of the 
ordinary sort so well known in the regular mar- 
ket. Its presence renders the clay solution very 
adhesive when applied to the body paper. 

The cost of illustrations having been greatly 
reduced through the perfection of photogravure 
or half-tone processes, a large and increasing de- 
mand exists for a paper of extremely smooth, Extreme 
firm, and sensitive surface, suitable for the repro- smoot bness 
duction of the finest half-tone cuts ; a paper with ^ 
such delicate fineness and susceptibility that the 
minute lines of a photogravure cut — so minute 
in instances as to be indistinguishable to the 
touch of the finger — will be perfectly reproduced 
when printed upon its enameled surface. 

Large factories are devoted entirely to the 
coating process. They do not necessarily make 
their own body paper, but frequently purchase it 
from outside sources. At first, this clay solution 



ioo The Story of Paper-Making 

was carried to and spread upon the surface of 
paper by the use of a fine hair brush. This was 
applied to one side or surface of the paper at a 
time, the same process being repeated on the 
opposite side, if both were to be coated. Since 
its earlier introduction, the process of surface-coat- 
ing paper has undergone great improvement, and 
the method to-day in vogue, while seemingly 
Parts of complete and exceedingly rapid, is yet readily 

coating understood, and the machinery required is quite 
machine . , „, r 

simple. 1 his consists or: 

First — A vat, to hold the enameling solution. 

Second — Rollers, to regulate its distribution 
upon the web of paper. 

Third — Brushes, to work out small lumpy 
particles and overcome any tendency to uneven- 
ness of coating. 

Fourth — An automatic carrier, to convey the 
coated web through a drying-room ; after which 
it is calendered to the surface wanted and cut 
into sizes required. 

A roll of body paper ready to be enameled is 
placed before the vat which contains the coating 
solution. The end of the paper-web is started 
through the solution by being passed under a 
wooden roller hung in the vat — the purpose of 



Water-Marks and Varieties of Paper 101 

the roller is to insure an even tension and uniform 
immersion of the web. After passing under the 
roller the paper-web leaves the vat, and is passed 
between two rollers that regulate the thickness of 
the coating and remove all surplus. From the 
rollers the web passes forward through two sets 
of brushes, one above and one below, both sets 
working back and forth transversely upon the top 
and bottom of the coated web. Each set of 
brushes is comprised, first, of a coarse, then Distribution 
intermediate, and finally of extremely delicate °J coatin S 
brushes, made usually of camel's hair, which as 
they play upon the coated surface work out all 
roughness or small lumpy particles, and reduce 
the coating to uniform fineness. Upon leaving 
the brushes, the paper reaches an automatic car- 
rier. This consists of wooden slats conveyed at 
intervals upon two endless chains that pass at 
either side of the machine just outside of the 
coated web, the chains supporting the slats at 
their ends. As the paper reaches the slats it falls 
upon one, which by an ingenious device is carried 
forward and upward, permitting the coated web Carrier 
of damp paper to fall in long loops or folds — 
succeeding slats follow upon the carrier at regular 
intervals, and prevent any marring of the damp 



102 The Story of Paper-Making 

surface by keeping it from foreign contact. The 
slats upon the carrier convey the web in this 
festooned form through a drying-room, kept 
at a temperature of about 140 Fahrenheit, 
thus thoroughly drying the coated web. The 
paper, dried by its passage through the drying- 
room, is rerolled upon reels, and is then finished 
by being passed rapidly between alternate steel 
and paper rollers, after the ordinary method of 
calendering paper. The rollers are susceptible to 
regulation or adjustment, so that almost any 
The gloss degree of gloss can be put upon the coated sur- 
er finish f aC e; hence, for the highest finished paper the 
rolls are set slightly closer together, giving greater 
pressure; and if necessary, the web can be run 
through a second or third time. After calender- 
ing, the paper is cut to sizes required, this being 
done in the same manner all rolled paper is cut 
into sheets, except that if three or four rolls are 
run through the cutter at once — as is frequently 
the case to facilitate rapid cutting — a device is 
used that causes the sheets from each roll to fall 
in separate piles, so that all of the sheets in each 
pile will be from one roll, insuring uniformity. 

The quality and value of coated paper depend 
upon the quality of the body paper, the fineness 




THE SUPERCALENDERS — Page 82 



Water-Marks and Varieties of Paper 103 

of the clay and other ingredients used in the 
coating, together with the perfection of its manu- 
facture. 

Glazed paper is one of the most interesting 
and useful forms of coated paper. The glazing 
is done by two processes, known as friction and Glazing 
flint glazing. In either process the method of P rocesses 
coating, up to and including the drying, is practi- 
cally the same as that followed in the coating of 
other papers, except that wax is mixed with the 
coating to act as a lubricator, and to permit of 
securing the desired glassy finish. 

In friction-glazing, the paper is passed through 
a friction calender, which consists of a cotton roll 
and a chilled iron roll, the latter revolving at 
much greater speed than the former, the friction 
generated giving the paper a very high polish. 

In the flint process, the paper is fed into a 
special burnishing machine, and passes over a 
groove in which operates a flint-stone, fitting 
closely in the groove and working back and forth 
upon and across the sheet. As will readily be 
seen, this is a very slow process as well as expen- 
sive, although it produces a finish, higher and 
more lasting, than can be secured by the friction 
method. 



104 The Story of Paper-Making 

Paper made by the two processes can be dis- 
tinguished by the lines appearing on the flint- 
paper made by the stone in its travels across the 
sheet. 

Glazed papers are used largely in the manu- 
facture of boxes and numerous fancy articles. 
Lithograph- Lithographic paper is a product especially pre- 
ic stock pared to take impressions from stones in litho- 

graphing. For ordinary use, common book or 
print papers are employed, but these are usually 
given extra care and attention in the course of 
their manufacture ; the stock is so manipulated as 
to not only secure the desired quality and finish, 
but also to counteract the tendency of the paper 
to stretch, which if not overcome is apt to destroy 
the register and injuriously affect the quality of 
the work. The better grades of lithographing- 
paper are made by applying a clay coating espe- 
cially prepared to bring about the desired results. 
Asbestos-paper is made by combining paper 
pulp and the mineral amianthus. Its fireproof 
and non-conducting qualities make it a staple 
commodity for many purposes, such as drop-cur- 
tains for theaters, insulation of electric wires, 
packing of steam-pipes, etc. 

Tar-paper is a coarse, thick paper soaked with 



Water-Marks and Varieties of Paper 105 

a tar product, and used for covering roofs and 
lining walls, to secure warmth and dryness. 

Paper coated with the white of eggs is known 
as albumen-paper, and is employed as a vehicle 
for silver prints in photography. 

Paper which has been so chemically treated 
that the color of its surface may be altered by the 
action of light is known as sensitized paper. 
Under this general designation are included 
numerous papers differing from each other in the 
details of manufacture, though the name is most Photo- ^ 
commonly applied to paper that has been floated £ ra P" tc 
in a bath of nitrate of silver, or coated with an 
emulsion of silver-nitrate of chloride. One of the 
most common of papers included under the gen- 
eral term is that known in general trade as blue- 
process paper, which is prepared by floating white 
paper in a solution of potassium ferrocyanide. 
It is used for copying plans and maps, as well as 
for printing photographic negatives. After ex- 
posure to the light for the proper length of time, 
under the subject to be reproduced, the print is 
finished by immersion in several changes of clean 
water. Very similar to the blue-process paper is 
the blue or ferro-prussiate paper, which is sensi- 
tized or made sensitive by being treated with a 



106 The Story of Paper-Making 

solution in water of red prussiate of potash and 
For peroxide of iron. This may be applied as a 

blue-prints coa ting to the surface of the paper, or the latter 
may be floated upon the solution. When ex- 
posed to light under a drawing, those parts of the 
sheet to which the light has access through the 
transparent portions of the drawing are more or 
less affected, according to the greater or less trans- 
parency, as well as to the length of the exposure. 
When this printing has proceeded as far as 
desired, the sheet is washed in clear water, and 
those parts that have been protected from the 
light, become white, while those exposed to the 
light and affected by it take on, when dry, a per- 
manent blue. 

Another variety of what may properly be 

termed sensitized paper is the arrowroot-paper 

used in photography for positive prints. It is 

plain or non-glossy, and is coated with a weak 

solution of arrowroot in water, with sodium, 

chloride, and a trace of citric acid. Photographic 

paper, as such, includes a great variety of these 

Other sensitized papers, employed in various processes 

sensitized f tne art ; albumenized, salted, coated with 

paper. emulsion, or otherwise treated. One of these, 

known as Pizzighelli paper, a sensitized platinum- 



Water- Marks and Varieties of Paper 107 

paper, gives a neat surface, and soft, clear, gray 
tones, which are most artistic and pleasing for 
many subjects. 

Other papers are so treated chemically as to 
produce certain effects under the application of 
pressure, instead of by the action of light. Such 
is the transfer-paper used for transferring a design 
mechanically, which is prepared by coating the 
sheet with adhesive pigments of lampblack, 
vermilion, indigo, or other chemical. The car- Carbon or 
bon-paper universally used in typewriting when trans J er 
more than one copy of a letter or paper is 
desired, is paper faced with carbon or lampblack. 
Alternate sheets of writing and carbon paper, 
placed one above the other, are put into the type- 
writer, and the impression of the letter on the 
surface of one sheet serves to print three or four 
sheets underneath. 

Manifold writing or copying papers are made 
from strong unsized papers adapted to receive 
writing or printing, and to transfer this readily 
under pressure to another sheet which has been 
dampened. It is the common rule to-day to Manifold 
make permanent record of correspondence and 
business transactions by the use of this system of 
impression-copying. The manifold paper largely 



108 The Story of Paper- Making 

used by railroads is very thin, making possible a 
large number of copies from a single impression, 
thus effecting a great saving of time and labor. 
Stencil Stencil-paper is produced by giving to a sheet 
of fibrous paper, as fine and thin as gauze, a thick, 
even coating of paraffin, and from this the stencil 
may be prepared in two different ways. Either it 
may be placed in the typewriter, from which the 
ink-pad or ribbon has been removed, and the 
stencil cut by allowing the type to strike the wax 
sheet, or it may be placed upon a flat steel plate, 
the surface of which is cut into multitudinous 
microscopic steel points, and then written upon 
by a stylus, a steel pencil made especially for the 
purpose, which cuts the wax without tearing the 
gauzy body of the sheet. Copies are produced 
in the same manner as with other stencils, viz., 
by placing the blank sheet under the stencil and 
then passing an inked roller over the latter. 

Luminous paper is prepared by compounding 
the pulp with gelatine and phosphorescent powder. 
irans- Transparent papers are made by several different 
taker met hods. The usual one employed is to apply a 
thin coating of a solution of Canada balsam in 
turpentine, or ai solution of castor or linseed oil 
in absolute alcohol, the alcohol in the latter case 



paper 



Water-Marks and Varieties of Paper 109 

being permitted to evaporate, thereby rendering 
the paper transparent. Such paper is largely used 
for tracing purposes, and may be restored to its 
original state of opacity, with the tracings left 
unchanged, by removing the oil with a fresh bath 
of alcohol. 

Safety-paper is a paper so treated or coated 
with chemicals that any ink-writing upon its 
surface cannot be erased, effaced, or removed Safety 
without leaving indelible marks on the paper. 
As its name implies, it is used for safety in bank- 
checks or other commercial paper, to protect 
against alteration. 

Gunpowder-paper is prepared by spreading 
an explosive substance on paper, which is then 
dried and rolled up in the form of a cartridge. 

Sand and emery papers are produced by coat- 
ing a stout paper with glue, and then sprinkling 
sand or emery-dust upon the surface. Man's Sand and 
skill has devised for this purpose an ingenious emer y 
machine. This first coats the paper with glue 
from a revolving brush, which plays over the 
surface of melted glue in a steam gluing-pot 
below. Having accomplished this result, it soft- 
ens the glue with a spray of steam, and sifts the 
sand upon the surface, all surplus sand drop- 



no The Story of Paper- Making 

ping into a box below as the sanded or emery- 
surfaced paper passes over a roller. Other loose 
particles are blown off by a fan, while the remain- 
ing ones are still more firmly fixed by a second 
jet of steam. 

Cork-paper, an American invention, is made 
by coating one side of a thick, soft and flexible 
Cork paper with a preparation of glue, gelatine, and 
molasses, and covering it with finely ground cork 
lightly rolled in. This paper is used for packing 
bottles, glassware, etc. 

Slate-paper, which takes its name from the 
fact that it can be cleansed like a slate, is pre- 
Slate pared from the regular product, of the required 
thickness and consistency, by the use of benzine, 
followed by a preparation made of lead, zinc 
oxide, turpentine, seed-oil, copal, and sandarach. 

Soft plate-paper is a thick unsized paper, 
especially adapted to receive impressions for fine 
engravings printed from steel and other plates. 

Filtering-paper, much used by chemists and 
druggists, is simply unsized open or porous 
Filter paper. With such paper, of course, the process 
of manufacture ceases at the first drying or crush- 
ing rollers, all the finishing or hardening opera- 
tions being omitted. 




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Water-Marks and Varieties of Paper in 

Waterproof papers comprise a large and most 
useful class. It is practically only within the 
past twenty-five years that a process has been Waterproof 
known and employed for rendering a paper 
waterproof by destroying its absorptive proper- 
ties. At the present time there are many and 
various methods used in waterproofing, such as 
soaking the stock in dissolved shellac and borax. 
This method is found especially satisfactory in 
waterproofing heavy paper and boards. Another 
process is by brushing the surface of the paper 
with boiled oil, and paper thus prepared was for- 
merly used largely in lieu of bladders and gut- 
skins for wrapping butter, covering fruit-jars, etc., 
but it has been almost entirely superseded by the 
introduction of parchment-paper, of which men- 
tion will be made later. 

Since the invention of the process of clay- 
coating paper, it has been found possible to incor- 
porate in the coating solution certain materials 
which render it waterproof. The application of 
wax or paraffin to paper to make it waterproof Paraffin 
is a common method ; and although this product 
is largely used, the process has never reached the 
state of development expected. A great amount 
of time and money has been spent in the en- 



ii2 The Story of Paper-Making 

deavor to perfect the process, and at the same 
time cheapen the cost, but so far with only indif- 
ferent success, and the experiment has usually 
proved very discouraging and expensive to its 
supporters. 

In its simplest form, this method consists in 
dipping the paper in a bath of melted paraffin, 
the paper being at a temperature lower than the 
melting-point of the paraffin, and promptly 
removing it from the bath, whereby the adhering 
paraffin is prevented from entering the paper to 
any considerable extent, and forms a thin coating 
upon its surface. This paper is odorless, and is 
used for wrapping meats, fish, butter, candies, etc. 

Parchment-paper, which is almost like the real 
parchment made from the skins of animals, is 
prepared from unsized rag-paper by immersing it 
Vegetable for a few seconds in a solution of two parts of 
parchment su ]p nur i c acid, or oil of vitriol, in one part of 
water, at a temperature of 60 ° Fahrenheit, then 
washing it in cold water and removing any re- 
maining traces of the acid by dipping it in a 
weak solution of ammonia. By this treatment it 
is rendered tough, translucent, glossy, and almost 
impervious to water. It is known as vegetable 
parchment, and is extensively used in wrapping 



Water-Marks and Varieties of Paper 113 

lard, butter, meats, etc., and also to hermetically 
seal jars and pots for preserving fruit. 

Silver tissue, or what is known to the trade 
as grass-bleached tissue, is extensively used for Grass- 
wrapping silverware. It is specially treated to bleached 
remove all chemicals that would tend to corrode 
or tarnish silver. The best qualities of this paper 
are made in England. 

Metallic paper is paper washed with a solution 
of whiting, lime, and zinc. Characters written on 
this paper with a pewter pencil are almost in- 
delible. 

Test or litmus papers are used in laboratories 
and factories for indicating the presence of acids 
or alkalies and various liquids. It is prepared by Litmus 
treatment with a peculiar coloring matter that 
gives its name to the paper. It is of a blue or yel- 
low tint, according to the chemical employed in 
its preparation, and changes color under the in- 
fluence of different chemical agents. The blue 
litmus paper, for instance, when thrust into an 
acid solution becomes red, but may be restored 
to its normal color by being subjected to the 
action of an alkali. 

The enumeration already given by no means 
exhausts the uses of the wonderful product evolved 



ii4 The Story of Paper-Making 

and perfected by centuries of study and toil. 
Widespread as is its use in the various depart- 
ments of chemistry, and in all the graphic arts, it 
fills an equally wide field of usefulness in the 
mechanic arts, where it has become a staple. 

One of its most curious uses in this field is in 
the manufacture of car-wheels. The material is 
Paper calendered rye-straw board, or thick paper, and 
car-wheels tne credit of the invention belongs to Richard N. 
Allen, a locomotive engineer. The paper is sent 
to the car-wheel shops in circular sheets measur- 
ing from twenty-two to forty inches in diameter, 
and over each of these is spread an even coating 
of flour paste. The sheets are then placed one 
above the other until a dozen are pasted together, 
when all are subjected to a hydraulic pressure of 
five hundred tons or more. After two hours' pres- 
sure, these twelve-sheet blocks of paper are kept 
for a whole week in a drying-room heated to a 
temperature of 120 Fahrenheit, after which a 
number are pasted together, pressed, and dried for 
a second week ; a third combining of layers is then 
made, followed by a month's drying, until there 
is obtained a solid block, containing from one 
hundred and twenty to one hundred and sixty 
thicknesses or sheets of the original paper. The 



Water-Marks and Varieties of Paper 115 

thickness is only from four and one-half to five 
and one-half inches, and in weight, density, and 
solidity the block resembles more the finest 
grained, heaviest metal than it does the original 
paper product. It may be called car-wheel paper. 
To complete the wheel, there are required a steel 
tire, a cast-iron hub, wrought-iron plates to pro- 
tect the paper on either side, and two circles of 
bolts, one set passing through the flange of the 
tire, the other through the flange of the hub, and 
both sets through the paper. The paper blocks 
are turned on a lathe, which also reams out the 
center-hole for the hub ; two coats of paint are 
applied to keep out moisture ; the cast-iron hub 
is pressed through by hydraulic pressure ; the 
other parts are forced into place, and the paper 
center is forced into the steel tire by like hydraulic 
power ; and there, a product of human ingenuity, 
is a paper car-wheel, which never is injured by 
vibrations, and is safer and longer-lived, though 
costing more, than any other car-wheel made. 

Paper lumber is another curious form of the Paper 
staple. It is produced by making the ordinary lumber 
strawboard on a cylinder machine, running it 
through a vat of resin and other waterproofing 
heated to a temperature of 350 ° Fahrenheit, then 



n6 The Story of Paper-Making 

placing together the sheets so resined and subject- 
ing them to hydraulic pressure. The result is a 
paper board three-sixteenths of an inch thick, and 
of a dark or blackish color. It can be cut with a 
saw or chisel, is very hard and solid, and has been 
marketed in slabs thirty-two inches in width by 
twelve feet in length at forty dollars a thousand. 
It is used for the interiors of railway-cars and for 
perforated chairs. 

A product of the paper-mill has been used 
quite extensively the last few years for clothing. 
Chamois It is called chamois fiber or mangled fiber. It is 
fi° er made from a long-fibered, strong sulphite stock, 
and is passed through a specially constructed 
machine which mangles or crushes the fiber, giv- 
ing it a soft and flexible character, like chamois. 
It has been used in dress-skirts and for under- 
vests, and has an added advantage over cloth in 
being practically impervious to air. 

Paper boats are made of especially prepared 
paper pulp, molded and pressed into shape. 

Paper flour-barrels, water-pails, and other like 
articles are made by stamping out their form from 
paper pulp or heavy cylinder-made paper possess- 
ing folding properties. 

Papier-mache is another product of paper 



Water-Marks and Varieties of Paper 117 

almost unlimited in its uses. The materials of 
which it is made, for the commoner classes of 
work, are old waste and scrap paper, repulped Papier- 
and mixed with a strong size of glue and paste. mac e 
To this are often added quantities of ground 
chalk, clay, and lime. For the finest class of 
work, a method invented in 1772 by Henry Clay, 
of Birmingham, England, is followed. Sheets of 
specially made paper are soaked together in a 
strong size of paste and glue, molded into the 
desired shape and dried in an oven, other layers 
being added, if necessary, to secure the required 
size and shape. The dried object is hardened by 
being dipped in oil, and is then trimmed and 
prepared for japanning and ornamentation. In 
delicate relief-work, a pulp is prepared of scrap 
paper, which is dried, then ground to powder and 
mixed with paste and a proportion of potash until 
a very fine, thin paste is formed. Papier-mache 
is an exceedingly strong, tough, durable sub- 
stance, slightly elastic, and not liable to warp or 
fracture. The articles for which it is used make 
a long list, including ornamental boxes, trays, 
match-safes, dolls' heads, toys, anatomical and bo- 
tanical models, artists' lay-figures, picture-frames, 
panels, and other mural ornaments. It has also 



1 1 8 The Story of Paper- Making 

been employed in the construction of coaches and 
for door-panels, while under the name of carton 
pierre, which is practically the same substance, are 
molded ornaments for walls and ceilings. Ordinary 
roofing and carpet felts are similar in manufac- 
ture. The use of moistened papier-mache in 
electrotyping, and the method followed, is too 
well known to need description. 

In the use of paper for wall-hangings, the 
artistic and practical come together. From the 
earliest days when men made for themselves per- 
manent abodes, mural decoration of one form or 
Wall-paper another has been known, and every branch of 
painting, sculpture, and decorative art has been 
called into service. It is not strange that paper, 
with its many adaptations and wonderful possi- 
bilities, should, when it reached the proper stage 
of development, find one of its principal uses in 
making beautiful the walls of our homes. The 
eighteenth century was well advanced when wall- 
papers came into use in Europe, but it is claimed 
that they were used much earlier by the Chinese, 
who, with characteristic ingenuity, have made 
clothing, handkerchiefs, napkins, and a great 
variety of other useful articles out of paper. The 
first patterns were very crude, but through the 



Water-Marks and Varieties of Paper 119 

slow processes of development and improvement 
a wonderful degree of perfection has been attained. 
Beauty and taste in the decorative art find their 
highest exponent in the " repped morocco " and 
fine colored papers. Repped or corded papers 
are those having raised designs, which are pro- 
duced by passing the web between rollers on 
which the ribs or other devices have been cut or 
engraved. The embossing of morocco and other 
paper of raised design is done in the same way. 
The morocco and leather papers are imitations 
of the old stamped leather hangings of earlier 
days, which were usually made of the skins of 
goats and calves, cut into rectangular shape. 
These skins were stamped and embossed, having Embossed 
been first covered with silver-leaf and varnished e M ects 
with a transparent yellow lacquer that gave to the 
silver the appearance of gold. The reliefs were 
painted by hand in many bright colors. Leather 
wall-papers are treated in a similar manner, and 
are capable of being brought to any desired degree 
of richness. The richer grades of flat-surfaced 
figured wall-papers are printed with wooden 
blocks, upon which the designs are cut in relief, 
there being a block for each color. These blocks 
are applied by hand, after having been dipped in 



120 The Story of Paper-Making 

an elastic cloth sieve charged with tempera pig- 
ments. Care is used to place each block on 
exactly the right place, thus securing perfect 
register. In many cases the figures on the block 
are inlaid with copper, especially in the thin out- 
Block lines. In "block" and gold and silver printing 
printing the design is first printed in a strong size ; the 
finely cut wool of the required color, called 
"flock," or the metallic powder imitating gold or 
silver, is then sprinkled on by hand all over the 
paper, and adheres closely to the size. Where 
the pattern is to stand out in relief, the process is 
repeated until the desired results are obtained. 
The cheaper sorts of wall-papers, as well as some 
that are very rich, are printed by machinery from 
the web, on rollers or cylinders carrying the 
designs, under which the paper passes. 

Reference has been made to the process of 
coloring paper by mixing the colors in the engine, 
Surface but wall-papers and many others are surface- 
tinting tinted by being run through a color-vat. An 
iridescent or " rainbow " surface is given by treat- 
ing the paper with a wash containing sulphates of 
iron and of indigo, and then exposing quickly to 
ammoniacal vapors. 

Mother-of-pearl paper is produced by a some- 




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Water-Marks and Varieties of Paper 121 

what similar process. Glazed paper is first floated 
on a solution of silver, lead, or other metal, then, 
when dry, exposed to the vapors of sulphide of 
hydrogen, after which collodion is poured over 
the surface, producing rich and fascinating color 
effects. 

Marbled paper, used largely in binding, is Marbled 
prepared from a shallow bath of gum tragacanth, P a P e 
or goat's-horn, upon which the workmen sprinkle 
from a flat brush the films of colors needed for 
the desired pattern. When the whole surface is 
covered with bands and splashes of color, the 
workman takes a huge comb, which he draws with 
a wavy motion the length of the tub. The 
practiced marbler will so lay the colors and 
manipulate the comb as to copy any desired pat- 
tern. The marbling is done by deftly laying the 1 
smooth white paper on the bath for a moment, 
and then removing it, when the entire film of 
color comes with the sheet, so that a resprinkling 
of the bath is necessary. In marbling the edges 
of the leaves of a book, the body of the book, 
without the covers, is so held that the edges may 
be quickly dipped into the bath. In this case, of 
course, one covering of coloring matter will mar- 
ble a number of volumes. Paper is also colored, 



122 The Story of Paper-Making 

as has been noted, by passing the web through a 
coloring-bath. 

The papers briefly described in this chapter 
have been classified largely according to the 
methods of manufacture or chemical treatment, 
or to the purposes for which they were to be 
used. Another basis for classification is found in 
the size. In the United States, the usual writing 
papers of commerce are divided, according to 
sizes, as follows : 

Sizes of Commercial note ----- 

•writing Letter ______ 

paper Flat cap ______ 

Crown cap - 

Demy ------- 

Folio post _____ 

Double cap _--__. 
Medium ------ 

Royal ------- 

Super royal - 

Double demy - 

Double folio ----- 

Double medium - 

Imperial ------ 

Elephant __..__. 
Double royal ----- 

Columbier ------ 

Atlas ------ 

Antiquarian ------ 



5 x 


8 


8 x 


10 


14 X 


17 


15 X 


19 


16 X 


21 


17 X 


22 


17 X 


28 


18 X 


2 3 


19 X 


24 


20 X 


28 


21 X 


32 


22 X 


34 


23 X 


36 


23 X 


3 1 


23 X 


28 


24 X 


38 


23 X 


34 


26 X 


33 


31 X 


53 



CHAPTER VII 

THE EXTENT OF THE BUSINESS IN THE 
UNITED STATES 

The century just past has witnessed a marvel- 
ous growth in the paper industry. As a seedling 
oak, first struggling for root-hold and then push- 
ing its way steadily upward through difficulties 
and obstructions, it has assumed giant proportions, 
being now firmly established beyond any possi- 
bility of disturbance, and sending its branches in 
every direction. Many causes have contributed 
to this wonderful development. 

In no country of the world are books and 
newspapers read so extensively as in the United 
States, whose people must be thoroughly cosmo- 
politan if, as has been said, "every man who reads Publications 

the newspaper is a citizen of the world." In °f J 77^ 
, , , - . , , , compared 

1776, the natal year or our independence, there -^ f 

were in all the colonies thirty-seven publications, 
whose total yearly output did not exceed as many 
thousands ; in 1 900, according to tabulated sta- 
tistics, the thirty-seven had increased to twenty 
thousand eight hundred and six regular daily, 

123 



124 The Story of Paper-Making 

weekly, and monthly publications, and their aggre- 
gate output is counted not by thousands, nor even 
millions, but by billions. This too has no refer- 
ence whatever to the myriad of publications which, 
while appearing intermittently, are not issued at 
stated periods ; it refers only to regular periodicals, 
including our daily papers. In an analysis of 
Illinois' these interesting statistics we of Illinois find occa- 
rank in s j on f or g rea t gratification, as it develops that in 
. ,,• ,• the number of her publications Illinois outstrips 
all of her sister states except New York, ranking 
a close second in the grand total, and even taking 
first place in the number of her weekly issues. 
The following table shows the exact figures and 
their divisions of the four leading states : 



publications 



New York 


Daily. 

- 186 


Weekly. 
1086 


Monthly. Quarterly. 
592 46 


Total. 
I9IO 


Illinois 
Pennsylvania 
Ohio - 


180 

- I96 
I 7 I 


I 1 09 

9OO 

785 


3°5 
221 

180 


18 
12 
12 


l6l2 
1329 
II48 



An increase of such phenomenal proportions as 
indicated by these figures makes tremendous de- 
mands upon allied and tributary industries, but 
the increase in the production of paper of the 
variety required has been sufficient to meet these 
demands. These conditions, however, affect only 



The Business in the United States 125 

one branch of the industry. The increase in the 
publication of books, together with the multi- 
plicity of commercial and industrial uses to which 
paper may be put, as briefly outlined in the pre- 
ceding chapter, explain an expansion that would 
otherwise be inexplicable. Another cause to be 
taken into account, a third factor in the wonderful 
growth of the century, is the export trade. Presi- 
dent Hugh J. Chisholm, in his annual report to 
the American Paper and Pulp Association in New 
York City, February 15, 1899, made the follow- 
ing statement: 

"The past year has been one of marvelous expansion 
in the export trade of this country. Our industry has 
shared in this increase of foreign trade, but not to the 
extent that it ought. Our own markets being the best Export 
in the world, manufacturers in past years have naturally statistics 
confined their efforts practically to them, but we have 
reached such proportions in our ability to manufacture 
all kinds of paper that it seems as though there was 
never a more opportune time to explore and make con- 
quest of the foreign paper market. The amount of 
paper exported during the eleven months ending with 
November, 1897, was $4> OI 4>842, and for the eleven 
months ending November, 1898, $5,143,055, showing 
an increase of $1,128,213." 

During the past two years there has been even 
a greater proportionate increase. Considering the 



126 The Story of Paper-Making 

fact that ten years ago the exportation of paper 
was practically unknown, it will be quickly seen 
that we are fast forging to the front and taking 
the position in foreign fields which, as the leading 
paper manufacturing country of the world, we 
now fully merit. Our products are generally at a 
premium in foreign markets, and American genius, 
enterprise, and versatility are everywhere recog- 
nized. This export trade also acts as a safety- 
valve against overproduction, and by thus pre- 
serving equality between supply and demand 
lends stability and confidence to the industry. 
Number There are to-day in the United States 762 

of mills different concerns owning and now operating one 
in operation , . . . , ... , 

in U it d thousand and seventy paper and pulp mills ; these 

States are distributed through thirty-five different states. 

Of these, New York shows the greatest output, 
the capacity of her mills being 7,854,000 pounds 
daily, or nearly one-quarter the total daily out- 
put of the United States. Next to the Empire 
State comes Maine, with a daily capacity of 
3,723,000 pounds, while Wisconsin and Massa- 
chusetts take third and fourth rank, their mills 
producing, respectively, 2,674,000 and 2,195,000 
pounds daily. Massachusetts upholds her literary 
reputation by ranking first in the production of 



The Business in the United States 127 

both writing and book papers. In the production 
of wood-pulp paper New York easily outstrips all 
competitors, her output being nearly double that 
of any other state, while Maine stands second and 
Wisconsin third. The total daily capacity (not 
production) of the paper and pulp mills of the 
United States is estimated at 2,8,100,000 pounds, 
divided according to varieties as follows : 

Writing ------ 1,074,000 Division of 

Book ------- 2,650,000 product 

News ------ 4,856,000 

Wrapping ------ 3,617,000 

Boards ------ 3,230,000 

Miscellaneous, including varieties too nu- 
merous to mention - 1,707,000 
Ground wood and chemical wood pulp - 10,966,000 

The process of paper-making is continuous, 
owing to the great expense involved in wiping or 
cleaning the machinery, an operation necessary to 
prevent the pulp from drying to or rusting the 
many parts through which it passes from the time 
of its entrance into the washer and beater until it 
comes forth as a finished and perfect product. 
Allowing three hundred working-days a year to 
each mill, the total annual output possible would 
be 4,21 5,000 tons, which, allowing thirty thousand 
pounds to a car, would make 281,000 carloads. 



128 The Story of Paper-Making 

According to statistics gathered by the United 
States Commissioner of Labor for the first six 
months of 1898, the seven hundred and twenty- 
three plants, many of them having two or three 
separate mills, actually produced 1,733,019 tons 
of paper and pulp. This would make 3,466,038 
tons for the entire year, although the mills were 
not run to their full capacity, by any means. The 
six months from October 1, 1899, to March 31, 
1900, mark probably the greatest activity the 
paper trade ever experienced. The mills were 
taxed to their utmost to supply demands which 
were fierce and exacting. The difference between 
the actual production as estimated for the year 
1898 and the present estimated capacity of the 
mills is 750,000 tons ; and as the increased demand 
has taken up a large proportion of this, it is safe 
to assume that not for many years have the mills 
run so nearly to their full capacity as during the 
Estimated two just past. Estimating an average price on all 
value of fjjg different classes of paper, not including pulp, 

total OUtpUt , , , r i ' r 11 

for 1000 to value or the output for 1900 would 

amount to about $150,000,000. 

Statistics bring out the interesting fact that 
over one-quarter of the paper output is roll and 
sheet news paper. If an average value of 2^ 



for ipoo 




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W 

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3 






The Business in the United States 129 

cents per pound at the mills be allowed for this, 
it is evident that the users of news paper pay out 
some thirty-two million dollars every year for this 
important product. Notwithstanding the fact 
that this paper is sold for one-sixth of the cur- 
rent price of twenty-five years ago, it is yet greatly 
improved in quality. As a staple in this coun- 
try, paper has come to rank third in importance 
in the list of man's wants. The products of Paper ranks 

mother earth hold first place, including food- third t amon S 

„. . . , . . staple com- 

sturts, raiment, etc.; and the second place must be mQ( n t i es 

given to iron and steel, the bulwark of our com- 
mercial life. Paper follows next, as the keystone 
of our intellectual life, and promises in the years to 
come to play even a more important part in the 
upbuilding of our modern advancement and busi- 
ness. The conditions of civilization are such that 
intelligent reading is one of the essentials in indi- 
vidual progress. Affording as it does food for the 
mind, and opening up the way to profitable em- 
ployment through which the bodily wants are 
supplied, reading might almost be classed as next 
in importance to the food that nourishes and gives 
strength to the body. 

On account of its large production of the 
higher grades of writing, book, and ledger papers, 



130 The Story of Paper-Making 

Massachusetts leads in the value of the output; 
if our estimates are correct, the value of the paper 
of all varieties manufactured in the state was about 
$25,000,000 for the year 1900, or one-sixth of the 
entire estimated product. New York follows with 
an almost equal amount in the value of the pro- 
duct, while Maine, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania 
will show about $10,000,000 each, the five states 
thus making, in value, over one-half of the paper 
manufactured in the country. In considering 
these figures it must be taken into account that by 
increasing the width of the webs and the rate of 
speed at which the paper passes over the machine, 
the possible output has in many plants been more 
than quadrupled during the past ten years, which 
in part explains the doubling of the value of the 
output since 1890, during which year, according 
to the government census, the output amounted 
in value to $74,308,388. 
Number of The number of paper-making establishments 

mills and j s pl ace d at 762, operating 1,070 mills, and the 

their value , r , , • M 

value of the plants is $107,759,974; 52,391 per- 
sons find employment in the industry, and are 
paid wages aggregating $23,575,950, while the 
value of the material used reaches $78,067,882. 
During the decade between 1880 and 1890 the 



The Business in the United States 131 

number of paper plants proper had decreased from 

692 to 567, 1 25 in all, or eighteen per cent. In 1880 

the average number of employes to each factory 

was thirty-five, with an average yearly output from 

each plant of 179,639. During the ten years that Average 

followed, the average number of employes in a 0Ut P ut P< 

factory rose to 53, and the average yearly output p ' 

from each plant to 1131,056. With a decrease 

of 125 mills during that period, there must have 

been an increase of 5,831 employes and of $19,- 

198,564 in the value of the output. 

While the stately array of figures already mar- 
shaled is an impressive reminder of the wonderful 
development of the paper industry, which we 
accept unthinkingly as one of the benefits of a 
marvelous century, mere numerals can never tell 
the whole story. They must be forever silent as 
to the aims and purposes, the patient efforts, the 
determination and perseverance, the alternation of 
defeat and triumph which are embodied in the 
perfected product of to-day. It is not for them 
to chronicle the crude beginnings of the industry 
in the days of the dim and far-away past, nor to 
trace the slow steps by which it has advanced to 
its present commanding position. As our earlier 
chapters recount, its most marvelous strides for- 



i^i The Story of Paper-Making 

ward have occurred during the hundred years just 
past. 

The century that has marked such material 
progress in the production of paper has been pre- 
eminently one of vast intellectual and industrial 
activity and advancement, and it is a fair statement 
that paper has not only contributed largely to the 
general progression that has taken place, but 
through it as a medium standards have been 
reached that must have remained unknown were 
Paper aids it not for its efficient service. Through man's 
other inventive genius the utility of this valuable prod- 

uct has been increased a hundred-fold, and its 
wider use has been the means of broadening and 
extending other manufactories. It has aided in- 
vention, and is the medium through which new 
discoveries, theories, and conclusions have been 
proclaimed. It is the handmaid of literature and 
music, and through its fostering agency the high- 
est culture is to-day placed within the possible 
reach of the masses. Formerly, any considerable 
degree of learning was confined to the favored 
few — they were the "wise men" and the "magi"; 
those who could read even the simplest forms 
of language were the decided exception, and 
works to be read were rare, and confined to the 



The Business in the United States 133 

libraries of the great cities. To-day, through the 
abundance and cheapness of publications, all men 
may hold close communion with the minds of 
leading thinkers past and present, and the melo- 
dies of the great masters are brought within the 
hearing of all. In art it has served as noble a Paper's 
purpose as in literature and music. The fineness se [ vt " t0 
and delicacy of surface, attained through modern 
processes, make possible the half-tone and other 
fac-simile reproductions, which cultivate an appre- 
ciation of the beautiful and carry into even the 
humblest of homes the refining influences of great 
works of art ; reproductions used in illustration 
also elucidate and render great assistance to the 
correct interpretation of scientific and other pub- 
lications. 

But do these material attainments mark, in 
themselves, man's greatest achievements ? Vast 
and complete as they are, our answer must be no. 
Each, within itself a type of highest thought, be- 
comes an integral factor in the progression of the 
race, the perfectability of man, his nature and 
condition. 

The advanced thinkers of to-day agree that 
the hundred years just ended have been especially 
remarkable from a humanitarian standpoint. They 



134 The Story of Paper-Making 

have been made notable by movements tending 
toward man's elevation, toward the righting of 
his wrongs, and the alleviation of his sufferings. 
Victor Hugo declares : " This century is the 
grandest of centuries . . . because it is the sweet- 
est. This century . . . freed the slave in Amer- 
ica, elevated the pariahs in Asia, extinguished the 
funeral pile in India, and crushed the last fire- 
Paper aids brands at the martyr's stake in Europe." If we 

S re ^ f ask how these great reforms were wrought, the 

reforms . . . . . . 

answer must be, in part at least, that their accom- 
plishment was the result of public sentiment 
properly educated and directed. This were surely 
impossible without paper. By dint of the univer- 
sality of its service to mankind the ruling minds 
of all thinking nations are frequently placed upon 
a common plane, becoming possessed of common 
convictions, and upon the sudden presentation of 
important international problems, often act with 
a degree of unison that strikingly illustrates how 
much of one mind we are, how nearly upon one 
plane the thoughts of men are moving. As a 
force both in shaping and giving expression to 
public opinion, the press wields a power that is at 
once unquestioned and invincible. As Chapin 
says, the productions of the press " go abroad 



The Business in the United States 135 

through the land, silent as snowflakes, but potent 
as thunder." Power without an agency of ex- 
pression is helpless, and the paper sheet is the 
medium that makes possible the potency of the 
press. On its white wings it bears abroad the in- 
spired words that stir men's hearts and prove the 
heralds of " liberty, equality, and fraternity." 

When man has been set free from his fetters, 
whether they be the physical ones of iron or the 
no less binding chains of caste and custom, he is 
helpless until education and enlightenment restore 
to him the manhood, independence, and self- 
reliance which he has been denied. It is the chief The power 
glory of this century that mankind has been helped °f education 
to a higher intellectual plane and the blessings of 
truth and knowledge have been more widely dis- 
seminated than ever before. " The statesman 
is no longer clad in the steel of special education, 
but every reading man is his judge." Higher 
education has brought to man a quickened sense 
of the inherent nobility of his nature, and has 
changed his conceptions of the relations that exist 
between his own life and that which pulsates about 
him. To quote again from the great French 
writer : " This century proclaims the sovereignty 
of the citizen and the inviolability of life; it crowns 



136 The Story of Paper-Making 

the people and consecrates man." And this 
broadened enlightenment, this deepened sense of 
man's dignity and nobility, have in their turn con- 
tributed to the humanitarian side of life, making 
it easier to redress wrong and establish justice. 

In all these great movements of the century, 
paper has been the means of transmitting intel- 
lectual force ; it has been the messenger and herald 
of better things than the world had known. Its 
history has always been closely linked with that 
of man ; it has been the pace-maker of his prog- 
ress, in the realm of mechanics and of economics 
as well as in music, literature, and art. They 
have come up together out of the past ; they are 
associated in noble and uplifting work in the 
present ; together they go forward to such broader 
fields of usefulness as the future may disclose. 



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